My Love Will Clothe Your Bones
by MelMel1234
Summary: Japril one shots written from tumblr prompts, your comments and my own imagination haha
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO EVERYONE ! I just suddenly had this come to me today in the morning and I thought I'd try to write it. First of all, this is my first fanfic. I have no clue what I'm doing haha. Second of all, english is not my first language so apologies ahead of time for any grammatical mistakes I make. Also, please let me know what you thought of it. I'd love to know if I should write more or if this fanfiction writing thing isn't for me haha. By the way, it's written mainly from Catherine's perspective so maybe it's not for everyone. Anyway, enough talking, hope you enjoy it.**

 **disclaimer : I do not own any of the characters in this story. They are property of shonda rhimes and grey's anatomy**

 _ **BE YOU**_

Catherine was furious. Her son's behavior in front of her colleagues had been extremely embarrassing. He'd lashed out and stormed off from the party after a colleague had casually mentioned that plastics was a "quick buck" specialty for people who lacked the talent to make into cardio. Jackson, after having heard too many snide remarks for one night, has snapped.

She understood her son's reaction and felt a sense of pity, and if she was been really honest, even guilt, considering how she herself had on countless occasions given him a hard time for what she believed was a stupid decision on his part. But that didn't warrant him reacting the way he did. He was an Avery and that meant keeping up appearances. It meant that sometimes you had to control the way you react even if every fiber in your body wants to lash out and cause a scene.

She was aware of how difficult that was. After all, when Jackson's father left she had to ensure that it didn't harm the Avery name, that it didn't affect the way people perceived the Avery legacy. The feelings of anger, betrayal, sadness and loss had to be buried deep within and the grieving could only happen on the inside. She knew that this was unhealthy and now realized that maybe her own refusal to face her ex-husband's departure and deal with those emotions led to Jackson's refusal to deal with them as well. She wasn't too proud of that. She loved her son deeply and it pained her to realize that fulfilling the expectations of this unwelcome legacy may have come at the cost of been a well-adjusted person.

She recognized Jackson's voice coming in from one of the rooms. He seemed to have cooled off since the whispers coming from the room sounded more frustrated than angry. She was about to step into the room when the sight of her son stopped her. If she was a "soft" woman her heart might have been melted at the sight. Her son was seated on an armchair in the middle of the room. April was sitting on his lap. He held her closer to him wrapping one of his arms around her body, while the other was underneath her thigh, softly running circles on the outside of her thigh. She had her face next to his cheek and was caressing his other cheek. She gently whispered, quiet sentences in a soothing tone, that Catherine couldn't make out, occasionally placing kisses on his jawline.

The actions were having a surprisingly calming effect on her son. She could visibly see the frustration leaving his body, allowing him to relax. Catherine smiled to herself. She's never seen anyone have such a natural ability to ground Jackson. She really did always have a special place in her heart for April. She was a good person. She had a very pure heart and was an open book. Sure, she stuttered and stumbled and was overall a little bit overzealous, but Catherine found it endearing. She also respected the way she treated patients, with such humanity and love. A skill even her son had a difficult time mastering.

She recalled how once, when they were merely best friends, sometime before their on-call room romps which Catherine had no knowledge of until some days ago, she had invited April to a dinner with some of her friends. She wanted the girl to let loose and enjoy herself. During the dinner one of her colleagues made a snide remark about Jackson, hinting at the fact that maybe he was of better use in an industry where he could exhibit his "pretty" face. She knew that he was always very defensive about people underestimating his capability because of how he looked. She saw him tense up and ball his hands into fists, ready to fight back. Catherine remembered quickly trying to change the subject, but her efforts were all in vain. She saw April rub his arm up and down, grabbing his attention. She remembered how they shared a look that communicated a whole conversation between them. She saw him relax and smile and chuckle away the insult.

She had been stupid. She'd brushed it off as merely been a "very strong level of understanding between best friends." What she understands now is that Jackson was right. This thing between them was not new. But it was something older than the first time they kissed. She realized that they had been falling in love since the first day they met, unaware of doing so. What they had was the best kind of love. Sure, it would've helped for her son to have realized his love for her sooner. It would've helped a lot of people, like April's ex fiancé for instance, if he had realized it before she almost married another man, but she knew that whichever way it happened, them been together was inevitable. She may have also partially been to blame. Her son had learnt to deny his emotions, thinking they'd go away if he was stubborn enough about it, like she and Harper did. It was a cost he bore that she wish he didn't have to.

She snapped out of her train of thought when she heard Jackson laugh. He was looking at April, who now held his face between her hands. She watched as April gave Jackson a soft kiss and laughed along with him. Although their actions were purely PG and Catherine was by no means a prude, the intimacy of that moment felt overwhelming, she had to briefly look away. When she turned back she saw her son placing kisses on April's neck while slowly running his arm inside her gown, up and down her thighs. Catherine knew exactly what was on his mind and this time it was most certainly not PG. However, any plans her son may have had were quickly shut down.

"No honey. No. No. No. I'm not having sex in your mother's house while there's a party with like 30 people outside." Catherine had to resist the urge to let out a laugh. Even in the privacy the two thought they had, April still whispered the word "sex" as quietly as possible. Her innocence was sweet. Although clearly sporting a pout like a child deprived of candy, he placed one final kiss on her neck and took his arm out of her dress. She was proud that she had raised a son that understood clearly the power of consent.

"I know you're upset. And I know that you don't like to talk about it," April started to say after a moment of silence, "so I'm going to talk and you can just listen." She smiled at him and pecked his lips before continuing.

"I know what it's like to be judged for the choices you make Jackson. It's part of the reason why I never told anyone about my faith. I didn't want it to affect the way people saw me as a doctor. But you know, I love that part about me."

"I do too." Jackson, replied.

"But you don't like it ?" April asked with a smirk. Jackson smiled back at her comically. Clearly this was an inside joke that she didn't understood, but she thought made sense. Catherine herself was not a woman of faith, and she knew her son shared her beliefs, or lack thereof. She herself had remarked on how this difference of opinion could affect them, injure their relationship. She felt guilty now for having brought that discussion into their relationship so early and hoped it didn't affect them too much. They were after all still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage and she ought to have respected that. However, her sadness at having been excluded had blinded her. She'd even gone so far as suggesting that April might be a "gold digger", a suggestion Catherine knew was utterly untrue and now felt horrible about. Yet, at the time her pride had been hurt and she had tried to feel better about it by hurting someone else. An attribute she hoped her son didn't pick up on.

"Jackson ... You love plastics. It makes you happy. So happy. And I know there's so much more to your job than boob jobs and liposuction. I know that the happiest you are when you're at work is running the burn center. I love that. You picked plastics because it's true to you. It's something that truly makes you happy to get up each morning." She saw Jackson's face break into a childlike grin.

"That's how I feel when I go to church." April continued. "People are going to judge me for it my whole life, they're going to assume I'm stupid, assume I share the same narrow minded sentiments that some people share about homosexuality and whatnot and whether I like it or not they're going to judge me for it without getting to know me. Without asking me why I have faith, or finding out about the specifics of it."

"The thing is, you can't be afraid to be you. You can only hope that the people who love you love you whole. Even if there are parts of you they don't agree with." Catherine realized April was referring to them, their earlier "inside joke". She was starting to understand it clearer.

"The only opinion that matters is the opinion of people like that. Those people out there don't understand why you chose plastics and they'll never make an effort to. So there's no point beating yourself up about it. You're unafraid to be you Jackson. And that's ... One of my favorite things about you. I mean, it's the reason we're married." Catherine supposed there was a great truth to that. If her son had contemplated the consequences of his actions, in terms of how people would perceive him thereafter, and allowed himself to be affected by them, he may not have stood up at her wedding.

"I got you. Thanks to that, I got you. And ... Thank god for that you know." April laughed, although her tone was more emotional. "So, you go out there and just shut them out. They don't matter. You do." She kissed his forehead and looked at him expectantly.

Catherine knew that what April had said meant the world to Jackson. She could see it in his eyes. She watched on as he lifted her up and set her on her feet and kissed her lovingly.

"Thank you." Jackson said. "I needed that. I'm so glad you married me. Thank you for that too."

"Thank you for standing up," April said as she smiled adoringly. "I love you."

"I love you too." Jackson replied. "And by the way, the only person whose opinion matters to me is yours. And maybe my mother's." He added as an afterthought, "Sometimes."

Catherine held back another laugh as April swatted him across the chest while laughing along. "Hey ! It should matter all the time mister. She's your mom. She may not always be right, but she only has your best interests at heart." Catherine smiled at that. She was grateful to April for thinking that. She assumed that April had a much better relationship with her parents than Jackson did and so understood the fundamentals of such a relationship.

"Sure babe." Jackson joked, but Catherine could tell he took what she said to heart. She was happy. Truly happy that they had each other. Whatever betrayal she had felt, which had given rise to her anger at the time, was no longer there. Instead, she felt a sense of pride. Proud that her son had chosen someone who truly and completely understood him and loved him for all that he was, the good and the bad. She was also proud of herself. She never thought she'd raise a son who could love the way Jackson loved April. She always assumed, although she hoped against it, that because of his relationship with his father, he would be reluctant to love as deeply as he did. But Catherine reminded herself that the kind of love she could clearly see them share was something that you couldn't talk yourself out of. She was sure Jackson had tried to, but like she'd suspected, it was inevitable. They were inevitable.

Catherine remembered that maybe now was the time to make them aware of her presence. She stepped into the room, taking the couple by surprise.

"Um ... It's time for desert. Just thought you two should come back." That a poor excuse and Catherine knew it. However she couldn't bring herself to make the speech she had clearly been prepared to make at the beginning of this. She realized what her son needed from her was not that. She felt like she understood him better. Having April around will do them both some good, Catherine thought.

"Sure Dr Avery." April smiled and let go of Jackson's waist as she started to walk towards the door. Catherine stopped her and engulfed her into a hug. "It's Catherine, honey. Welcome to the family sweetheart."

She looked at the shocked faces of the two and finally laughed out loud. "I know I may not have been the most welcoming at first," Catherine said. She heard Jackson mumbling something that sounded a lot like, "understatement of the year" under his breath, but she chose to ignore it. Especially considering how that wasn't exactly false. "However, I really am happy. And I'm sorry for how I treated you April."

April was quick to say, "Oh no no Catherine it's fine. I ... I understand. And I ... We really are sorry that you couldn't come to our wedding. I ... We really wish .. We're sorry." She smiled at Catherine apologetically. Jackson smiled at April, he found her ramblings adorable. Although, he could live without the metaphors.

"It's alright darling ... Plus, you could just reward me with many beautiful little grand babies." Catherine said, ruefully.

They both laughed heartily, even though it did notably make them uncomfortable. April smiled and walked out of the room with Catherine by her side and Jackson tailing behind them. Catherine quickly turned around, leaving April to walk on, she smiled at her son. "I'm proud of you. In more ways than one. I thought you should know that." She could tell he was clearly taken aback, but quickly recovered as he realized what might have brought on this sudden declaration.

"How much did you hear ?" He asked, grinning.

"Enough." Catherine replied. "Oh and also. Don't you dare think about having sex in my house during a party. We have class. Remember darling, I'm a urologist. I know exactly where to make a nice, clean cut." She turned around and went on to join April, leavingbehind an amused and slightly apprehensive Jackson.

 **THANK YOU READING !**

 **Also, if you did enjoy this and want me to write more just leave behind a prompt in the comments or send me one on Tumblr: my blog is "astoldbyacertifiedunicorn"**

 **p.s : I was told I'd pasted some of the paragraph twice, hope that's fixed ! Sorry !**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone. Thank you to everyone who read my story and I really hope you enjoyed it. And thank you so much to those who reviewed. I really appreciate that. I also want to apologise for the fact that my previous story had paragraphs that had been pasted twice over. Since I'm new to fanficiton, it took me some time to figure out how to properly update an edit so I'm so sorry for any confusion that might have caused.**

 **As always, apologies for any grammatical errors and I hope you enjoy this story as well. Please let me know what you thought about it.**

 **Disclaimer : The characters are property of Shonda Rhimes and Grey's Anatomy**

* * *

 _ **The Way I Loved You**_

Jackson was confused. He and April have been married for sometime now and things were going pretty much amazing. He never thought that the transition from been ... well whatever they had been to been married would be so effortless. Never in his life had he thought he'd be someone who would even want to be married. The last girl he felt something even remotely close to what he felt about April had been Lexie and even then marriage had been the furthest thing from his mind. He used to see it as been restraining and unromantic, as ironic as that sounds. But now he realises that he just hadn't yet met someone who he was so sure he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He wanted April, and only April for the rest of his life. And he wanted that on paper. He also wanted to buy her a huge ring that would blind any man who tried to hit on her, but he had to go with a more modest one than he had in mind considering how, the more he thought of it, April wouldn't have appreciated the sentiment.

He loved their marriage. It felt like the smartest decision he had ever made in his life. And he knew that marriage wasn't easy but right now, they were in a great place. So Jackson couldn't for the life of him understand why April was bringing up with this whole "compatibility test" thing.

"Come on Jackson ! It's going to be so much fun !" April said from her seat on the kitchen island. Jackson was on dinner duty today but been the perfectionist that she was, April had to sit by and supervise. She insisted that she was merely keeping him company but Jackson knew her inside and out. She was making sure he didn't burn the chicken. "We just have to go in and answer some questions and the minister tells us how compatible we are"

This was a bad idea.

"I don't know babe. It's just not my kind of thing." Jackson realised that maybe acting as though he was uninterested was the best route to go. Telling April that he thought it would be a miracle if they even got 50% would be unwise.

Jackson shut off the stove and walked towards April to stand in between her legs. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist and put her arms around his neck. He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to the edge of the counter.

"Yes but it's my kind of thing and I do things that you like that I don't really like all that much just because it makes you happy. " April said, with a pout. He couldn't resist kissing her pout. The pout was dangerous. It was too adorable and if he saw it for too long he wouldn't be able to resist doing whatever she wanted. And he had to resist for their own good.

"You're taking about Sneakercon aren't you ?" Jackson asked, smirking.

"Jackson it was convention ... On SNEAKERS. We walked around looking at SNEAKERS ... The whole day. And I didn't complain once." April replied.

It's true. April could care less about sneakers but since he had this "weird obsession" as April insisted calling his, as he saw it, slight enthusiasm towards sneakers, she had accompanied him to Sneakercon without having to be asked twice. But Jackson was more than willing to return the favour. He'd gladly accompany her to Disneyland. She reacted to Disneyland the same way a 6 year old would and he never really cared for cartoons. But this ... This could affect their relationship. It could pop their blissful marriage bubble where everything was amazing and smooth sailing at this moment.

"Jackson please. For me. Because you love me. Aaaaannnndddd because you owe for ruining my other wedding." April said, with a smirk on her face.

"How long are you planning on cashing in on that one huh ?" Jackson asked rolling his eyes.

"Just this once. Promise" she said, kissing him and tightening her legs around his body. He lifted her up and started carrying her towards their bedroom.

"Fine. But you know ... Just remember. I told you so."

April squealed and kissed him passionately. He realised he might as well make the most out of tonight. Once this test comes back, he won't be getting laid for a long time.

* * *

"April. Come on. You promised you wouldn't be upset." Jackson said as he closed the door behind him. The day had gone great. They'd gone to the minister's office, taken the "test" which Jackson knew while he was writing the answers that they'd flunk, thanks to questions like, "Does religion affect your view of the world ?" and "What are your views on hand-me-downs?" Yes, that one had actually been a question, a question he had a very different answer to than April did. The truth was him and April were more different than he liked to admit. More different than him hating oatmeal and oatmeal been April's favourite breakfast. They were raised differently, had different perspectives of the world and expected different things from their lives. That's what had made her so interesting to Jackson when they were friends. He loved been able to get along with someone whom he couldn't in a personal level relate to very much.

He honestly didn't think their differences were much of a challenge to their marriage either. He loved how she challenged him. It kept things interesting. But their compatibility was a lot more important to April than he had imagined. He couldn't really understand why but it was clear she was upset. She had been quiet the whole car ride. She usually talked incessantly and sang along with the radio. He realized now how much he'd gotten used to her doing that, that when the car was silent it felt empty.

She had begun cleaning. That was Phase 2 of April Kepner's Guide To Been Upset With Your Husband. Phase 1 had already happened. The silence, in which she analysed every little thing that was right and wrong about what made her upset. Phase 2 was cleaning their already spotless house. By the time Jackson put his keys on the hook - he needed as many brownie points as he could get - she had already begun to wipe the invisible dirt on their coffee table.

"April, I told you this was a bad idea. And now you're mad at me and we're fighting over something so useless." He sat down on the couch and tried to pull her onto his lap. She stepped out his grasp and looked at him.

"I'm not mad at you Jackson. I'm just ... Nothing. It's nothing. I'm going to start on dinner." April said as she headed towards the kitchen.

Jackson walked into the kitchen. She was scanning the fridge but he could tell by how tense her body was that she was thinking about something else, something clearly not related to dinner. He walked behind her and put his arms around her waist, kissing the back of her neck. He hands lifted her shirt and put his arm on her skin softly caressing it. Jackson had never been good with feelings. He didn't talk about them. Rest assured that he tried harder these days for April. Mostly because not talking about them was what messed them up in the first place. But it was still tough. So physical affection was how he communicated best. Generally whatever emotion he was feeling he usually buried it with sex. But sometimes he communicated through sex.

"Jackson ! Really ? I definitely do not want to have SEX with you right now !" She turned around, slightly pushed him away and walked off.

"Because you're mad at me ! You only ever not want to have sex when you're mad at me " Jackson knew she was walking off to avoid this, but he was determined to resolve this. Even if it meant talking it out, because clearly the other way wasn't going to work. "Just admit it April. You always tell me that the easiest way you can resolve something is if you admit there's something to be resolved in the first place. So take your own advice and admit you're mad."

"Fine ! Yes. I'm mad" April finally stopped moving. But she was still not calm. She was wringing her hands together and almost jumping up and down in the same spot. "I'm upset. Okay ? I'm really upset but I'm not mad or ... or upset with you. I'm just mad ... And ..."

"And upset. Yes I know" Jackson made no attempt of moving near her. She needed time to cool down. If he moved she'd just go off racing. "Well ... If you're not mad or upset at me, what are you mad and upset about ?"

April didn't reply for a while. She just stared at her hands. Finally, she looked up. "We got 20%. 20% Jackson. That's like ... I mean ... 20% you know. What if ... I don't know I'm just upset ... About that. I'm upset that we got 20% because ... I don't know why. No ... No I do ... Or maybe not... I don't …." She was rambling. Jackson had a feeling she already knew why she was acting like this. He had a feeling she just didn't want to share because she thought it would hurt his feelings and he had a hunch that he knew why.

"Sweetheart. Did you and Maththew do this test? Before the wedding ?" She slowly nodded. "How much did you get?" He looked at her curiously, although he suspected he already knew the answer to that.

April's hesitation confirmed his suspicions.

"You got a 100% didn't you?" Jackson asked. His face fell. He saw that April noticed his change of expression. She sighed.

"Jackson ... I ..." She began.

"No … No no it's cool. It's cool. I'm gonna ... I'm gonna go ... Um ... I'm gonna go sleep now." He said as he walked off and closed the bedroom door a little louder than he intended.

Jackson feared the worst. Maybe she was regretting it; regretting marrying him. Maybe she wished she hadn't run to him and married Matthew instead. He fell back down on the bed, fully clothed and got under the covers. He didn't think he could survive if April left him; if she regretted them. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him. April was it. He was serious when he told his mom that she was "the one". He had never and could never love anyone the way he loved her. He couldn't imagine life without her as his wife.

He heard April slowly open the door and walk into the room. She lifted the sheet carefully and shuffled underneath it. He turned to face her as she lay down facing him.

"I'm so sorry." She began as she placed a small kiss on the tip of his nose. "I am an awful person. I just ... I'm scared." She admitted. He didn't think he wanted to hear this.

"I'm scared because I love you so much. And that scares me because I've never felt like this before." She whispered, quietly.

Jackson was taken aback. This wasn't really the confession he was expecting. He expected her to tell him that maybe they weren't the best idea. But not .. This.

"I loved Mathew. I did. I loved him in my own way. I wouldn't have agreed to marry someone I didn't love. I just didn't love him the way I love you. You're ... Frustrating and complicated and ... You drive me crazy sometimes and you .. You infuriate me." She chuckled.

"Thanks for the compliments babe. " He said, still unsure of where this was going.

"I feel things with you ... About you that I've never felt before and I feel it in a way that I've never felt before ... And that scares me. It scares me to be so in love with someone who drives me crazy in two completely different ways. Because, if .. If you leave, or if I lose you or if one day you decide that you don't want me anymore because ... Because we're too different ... Jackson I ..." He was speechless.

"Wait ... You don't ... This isn't about you ... Regretting us ?" Jackson asked as he wiped away a tear that had fell.

"WHAT ?!" She looked shocked. He realized that he'd been way off mark. "You thought .. Jackson why would you ... OF COURSE NOT. No. NO. Of course not ! Marrying you was ... It's the best decision of my life. I'd run to you all over again, everyday of my life. I will never, for no reason ... Ever ever regret that. I can't believe ..."

Jackson kissed her then. He kissed her with so much force that April was actually pushed on to her back. She laughed, breathlessly, after he pulled away. He lay back down and pulled her against his chest, interlocking their feet.

"I'm sorry I jumped to that conclusion." Jackson began. "I get it you know. How you feel. I understand that. I feel the same way. I mean, you admitted it yourself babe. You're crazy." He heard her chuckle.

"I love you so much that sometimes it overwhelms me. I guess that's why it took me so long to admit it."

"I know." She said, as she placed a kiss on his neck. "Mathew was nice. He was perfect actually. He said and did everything right. He got along great with my family. We were ..." Her voice trailed off. She sounded like she had a sudden epiphany and Jackson knew exactly what it was that she had realised.

"Compatible ?" Jackson asked, looking down at her.

"Yes. Compatible. We were compatible and it was so ... Oh god. I feel horrible saying this. It was comfortable. And comfortable is ..." She looked up at Jackson, with a guilty face. She didn't have the heart to admit it.

"Boring ?" Jackson said, holding back a laugh. He couldn't lie. Part of him secretly loved hearing her say that. "Yeah. I get that too. Stephanie was nice. We had a lot in common. It was fun. But I didn't love her. I never felt anything close to it." Jackson did feel bad admitting that out loud. April drove him mad. She was this crazy, complicated person who made him feel so many intense emotions all at once, but that was the reason he kept coming back. One of the reasons he was so in love with her. Nobody kept him on his toes the way April did. Loving April was risky. She was worth it, though and it's also not like he had much of an option. He could never love someone else. She was the only one for him, crazy and all. It was hard realizing that had they both been true to themselves they could've avoided a lot of the pain they caused not only to other people but also to each other.

"We're different . And that's fine. That's going to be hard, true. But it's also what I love the most about us. About you." Jackson said, kissing the top of her head. "April the fact that you want us to work so much is the reason we're going to be fine. Because you'll fight for us. I'll fight for us." She smiled at him and nuzzled her nose against his neck.

"We'll be fine. I love you so much. That's what the stupid test didn't ask. How much I love you. That's all that matters." She said, smiling.

"Exactly. Now that that's done, can we please go spend time doing things we are very compatible at." He winked suggestively while pulling her up to straddle him.

"Yes we can." April said giggling before she bent down to capture his lips.

* * *

 **THANK YOU FOR READING !**

 **If you have any prompts leave them in the comments, or send them to me on my tumblr account : "astoldbyacertifiedunicorn".**

 **.**

 **P.S : This was inspired by the song "The Way I Loved You" by Taylor Swift. I always thought that was a perfect song for April in terms of her feelings towards Mathew and Jackson. Also, I recall April and Mathew taking a test sometime before their wedding so that was also another point of reference.**

 **PPS : I am working on your prompts. I had already begun this one before I published the first so I thought I'd get it over with before I start working on the prompts, so expect those in the stories to come.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys. Again, thank you as always for the feedback. There are two parts to this, so this isn't a one shot per se** **As always, please let me know what you thought about it. Thank you so much for the support. Apologies for any grammar or spelling mistakes.**

 **I'm not going to give this chapter an M rating, but just know that this has slight sexual content every now and again. Nothing explicit at all. But, there are indications of sexy stuff across the chapter. Just warning y'all. I figured if adult japril can't keep their hands off of each other, hormonal teenager japril would be worse. Haha. Also, April's religion isn't heavily influencing her as much as it does on the show – her circumstances are different in this AU so it just wouldn't necessarily fit. I don't think it makes her OOC, but I thought you might need to know that, in case that's important to you**

 **Disclaimer : I do not own any of the characters. They are property of Shonda Rhimes and Grey's Anatomy.**

* * *

 _Prompt : "High school japril, with Mark as April's brother and Jackson as his best friend who falls for April and they sneak around."_

 _ **Teenage Dream : Part 1**_

"You know we really shouldn't do this."

April Kepner-Sloan was a good girl. She was a nerd. She said that proudly considering the fact that she never thought been intelligent was something to be ashamed about. She worked hard, maintained a perfect A+ average. She won science fairs, was the president of the debating team and led the mathletes. She ran bake sales and volunteered at an Elder's home every Saturday and went to church every Sunday morning.

So what on earth was she doing, in the football team's supply closet, making out very enthusiastically with a particular Jackson Avery.

Jackson was arguably one of the most popular guys in school. He was one the star players of their school's basketball team, junior prom king and he was an Avery which meant he was medical royalty, something everyone in Boston, whether involved in medicine or not, was aware. What most people didn't know about Jackson was that apart from all those things, he was funny, smart, driven and kind. Although the former traits made him popular in school, it's the latter traits that made her fall hard for him.

Jackson had managed to unclasp her bra while holding her up against the wall and was now slowly kneading her breasts. Second base was new to them. It had started about a week ago and April would be lying if she said she didn't love it. She let out a soft moan and felt him grinning against her neck. He was really going to town on that particular spot on her neck that he discovered drove her crazy, and she was sure that any second now there was going to be a big black hickey which no amount of makeup will cover. She'd told him multiple times that if no one was to find out about this, he could not give her hickeys.

"Jackson ... Are you sure ... No one will ... Catch us?" She asked between kisses.

She'd known him her whole life. Her brother, Mark and Jackson had been best friends since they were in pre-school. Jackson's dad left when he was really young and his mom, although she did love him very much, wasn't always around. So he grew up with the Kepner-Sloans. That is until 5 years ago, when April's mom and dad had died from a car accident on their way to one of Mark's games. April had been staying at her best friend Arizona's house that night when she had heard what happened. It had been an awful time for them. They were both young and so close to their parents. April had spent weeks in bed, refusing to go outside, even to school. Mark, on the other hand, had toughened up. After initially feeling just as helpless as April, he'd come to realize that this meant April was his responsibility, he was now going to have to make up for her lack of a mom and dad. Although their aunt Alice lived with them, he'd always gone beyond the role of a brother, he'd taken on the parent role. April sometimes missed care free Mark who used to love getting into trouble. He still was that way, but rarely with April. She figured that he must have thought it would be harder to parent her while also been her best friend. With her parents gone, Mark was the most important person in her life, and she knew she was his. Mark was over protective, to the say the least and that meant that he would most definitely not be okay with her dating Jackson. Plus, she'd always assumed Jackson had only seen her as Mark's little sister. April figured that it might be for the best then that she made sure her crush on was Jackson just that .. a crush. However, things hadn't exactly worked out that way.

He'd come over one day to drop by a video game he borrowed from Mark when Aunt Alice and Mark had gone out of town for a cousin's wedding. She'd stayed behind because she had had a math test to study for. She'd invited him over to stay for dinner and he'd accepted. They had moved on to the couch after dinner, where they talked for hours. It felt so nice. She realized they had a lot in common. She never realized how big of a nerd he was. He wanted to be a doctor, just like she did and he spoke about medicine so enthusiastically that it melted her heart. April didn't know what it was that led her to do what she did next, whether it was the way he talked about saving lives or the fact that for the first time she didn't feel like Mark's little sister, but April had kissed him. Well, more like sprung on him, if she was been honest with herself. She had instantly pulled back when she realized what she had done. He looked back at her in shock and she immediately regretted her decision.

However, before she could start rambling out excuses and executing her brilliant plan of jumping out of the window, he had pulled her in and started kissing her. April had never been kissed like that her whole life. It was true that she'd only ever kissed one other boy, but she was sure Jackson's skills were quite exceptional. They had made out on her couch for a long time and only stopped when they heard the gate opening, signaling her family's arrival. There has been no time for them to process what had happened since Jackson had to run off the back door.

She had assumed he'd want to pretend it never happened. And it's not like she didn't have her own reservations. Rather, A reservation … named Mark.

When he had offered her a ride home the next day, she was ready for him to tell her that this whole thing was a huge mistake and that he was caught up in the moment. Instead, he told her that he wanted to do this, wanted to date, that he had for a while now, but he never thought she'd be interested in him. April realized looking at his posture that he was nervous. He was nervous that she would reject him. She would have almost laughed out loud at that had she not found it to be the most adorable thing. He wasn't been charming, confident Jackson Avery who can get any girl he want. In that moment, he was so honest in the way he felt about her that he couldn't really charm his way through this. She interrupted his ramblings with a kiss and assured him that she would love to date him.

April did however insist that maybe they should keep it quiet for some time, both of them knowing full well the potential repercussions that could come from telling Mark. But she was thrilled … sure, terrified of how Mark would react, but thrilled. Because he was gorgeous, funny, sweet and smart. And he really liked her back.

So that's how she ended up, six months later, in the basketball team's supply closet after practices had ended and everyone had gone home. Well that was the reason she was making out with him. The reason why they had to make out in this particular place was because Mark was still not at all aware of their relationship. Jackson insisted he could handle it, whatever wrath Mark would bring upon him. He even insisted he'd risk getting kicked off the team, Mark been the captain did have the authority. She found it sweet that he liked her so much. He was so perfect. But she wasn't ready. She had a feeling that if he'd found out, that would be the last time she saw Jackson.

"Yes, April. You know that Mark went home right after practices today and I waited until half an hour after the last person left before I texted you. I even watched them walking out of school." Jackson explained, while moving back down to kiss her neck. April did admit that she tends to be a little paranoid about getting caught, especially by Mark, so she really appreciated how Jackson made sure that they were been really careful. She knew that he wanted to tell Mark. Really badly. Not because he enjoyed the inevitableness of ending up as Mark Kepner-Sloan's personal punching bag, but because he was proud of having her as his girlfriend. He wanted to show her off to his friends and hopefully deter the girls who constantly hit on him assuming he was single.

"Babe … Concentrate. On this. Now. Okay ?" He asked pausing in between kisses. She looked at him. God, was he gorgeous. She loved his eyes, the way the blue, green and grey screen all dissolved into one another, and the little freckles on his nose were just too cute for words. "I know I'm pretty April, but can we get back to this, please ?" He asked, smirking. She realized he'd noticed her gawking at him and blushed in response. She needed to stop worrying so much. Here she was, with this person who she adored so much and who made her feel things, both emotionally and physically, that she didn't think was possible, and she wasn't even giving him her attention. "Yes. Yes we can, I'm sorry." She said placing both her hands on the sides of his face and leaning in to kiss him. He playfully pinched her butt and smirked against her mouth.

"Avery ! Jason told me he saw you going in here."

April jolted back so fast that if Jackson wasn't holding her up against a wall, she would've fallen on the floor. This could not be happening. What was he doing here ? Why was this happening to her ?

"Oh no no no no no no. This isn't happening, this isn't happening." She whispered frantically, while Jackson set her down, and began looking for her discarded top.

"Okay. Calm down. He'll hear us. So just be quiet. Pretend we're not here." Jackson said, handing her her top he'd finally located, and pulling his own over his head.

"No ! Absolutely not ! You have to go out there. He'll come looking for you if you don't" said April, running her hands through her hair to straighten it out. She knew Jackson found her red hair incredibly sexy and although she loved that, it also meant that whenever they made out, he managed to make it look like a massive tangles of red curls, because he constantly ran his hands through it.

"What ? No way. Just .. Don't talk and he'll go away." April knew her brother. That was not going to happen.

"Jackson, I know you're in here. Oh. Are you ... Entertaining?" From the sound of his voice, he was about 10 feet away from the supply closet. "I'd love to meet her. On a scale of 1-10, how attractive is she ? And the only appropriate answer is 10, because all women are beautiful, Avery" April rolled her eyes at that. If she thought Jackson was charming, her brother invented charm. He got away with basically anything because he had all the teachers, female and male, wrapped around his fingers.

"Just go. Go before he comes in." She whispered, desperate.

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't ?"

"I need ... Time."

"What ?!" April looked at him like he was crazy. Did he want them to get caught ? I mean, sure she knew he wanted Mark to know, but like this ? No way. This ensured even less of a chance of Mark ever approving of them. She looked at his face which was twisted uncomfortably. He was looking down at his pants. April followed his gaze. She immediately saw the source of his discomfort, which took all she had in her, not to laugh out loud.

"Aw baby I'm so sorry." She said, although she was clearly not. She couldn't help but feel a little proud that she could get that reaction from him by doing so little. "Is it ... Hard ?" She asked, smirking devilishly.

"You are evil you know that." Jackson said, dropping a kiss to her cheek.

"Want me to kiss it and make it better ?" April replied. She was beginning to enjoy this.

"Aprrriiilllll." He whined, clearly looking tortured.

"Alright. If you're not coming out, I'm coming in there." She heard Mark walking towards them. She looked at Jackson desperately, motioning him to do something.

"OKAY. OKAY. I'm coming. Just ... Don't come in here man. Hold on." He said, taking a deep breath, pecking her on the lips and waking out.

"Why Avery, I didn't know you felt this way about me. I feel flattered." Mark said, clearly referring to Jackson's situation.

"Shut up Mark. I'm going to kill you. What are you doing here anyway ?" That's good question, April thought. The last time she saw him he had told her he was going home.

"I was going to go home but I realised that I forgot to take the house keys from April. I called her and she didn't answer so I went to the music room, because she told me she had a band meeting today until 6 but she wasn't there." April wanted to mentally slap herself. She knew she had to be more careful about stuff like that. She, in her rush to get to Jackson, had completely forgotten that the key was with her.

"Oh. Um. Maybe they cancelled practices today." Jackson suggested, loud enough for April to hear, hoping she'd understand that that was the excuse she was going to go with. "I'm sure she would've texted you about it by now."

April got the hint and quickly took her phone out, silenced it and then sent Mark a message telling him she'd gone to the mall with Arizona and Alex. They were April's best friends and she knew that they'd cover her ass if she asked them to.

Before Mark could respond his phone alerted a new message. "Speak of the devil. Yep. It's her. She's out with her friends apparently. Seems like you were right, practice got cancelled. How'd you guess ?"

"Doesn't take a genius to figure that one out man." Jackson said, laughing awkwardly. He really needed to get Mark out of the locker room so that April could leave without getting caught.

"Fair enough. I just get this weird feeling that she's dating someone." Mark remarked, furrowing his brow.

"Well ... Would that be so bad ? I mean she's an adult, she's allowed to make her own decisions." Jackson replied, hoping to maybe find out just how against her seeing someone Mark was, although he was aware of the fact that that someone been Jackson aggravated the situation. April however already knew the answer to this.

"Yes. She is not an adult. She's my baby sister. She can date when she's 45 but now when she's 16, there's no way in hell, I'm going to let her date. If she's seeing someone, whoever it is, I might need your help to break his balls." Mark said, laughing at the last bit although it was pretty obvious he was very serious about the threat.

She heard Jackson laugh along nervously. He clearly had no intention of losing his balls anytime soon and April could only bury her face in her hands. This was precisely the reason why she was so conflicted about whether or not she should tell Mark about Jackson. She knew telling him now would lead to trouble but waiting to tell him would also lead to trouble. They were in a catch 22 situation with no easy way out.

"Alright, well, I'll let you get back to ... Having fun" He then raised his voice, clearly addressing April and said, "CONGRATULATIONS, I HEAR HE'S WELL ENDOWED IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN." April internally squirmed at this, wanting her brother to be the last person she had to hear about that from.

"Shut up dude ! Let's go ! Jesus." She heard Jackson swat Mark across the head.

"What ? I was throwing in a good word for you. I've heard the rumors Avery." Mark said, chuckling.

"GO. NOW." She heard Jackson yell, knowing full well that he didn't want her to be reminded of his reputation. Although that was the last thing on her mind. Standing in a supply closet, having lied to the family member she loved the most for 6 straight months, while forcing her wonderful boyfriend to keep them a secret, April realised that her "good girl" days were long gone.

* * *

April figured that in her life, been the clumsy, awkward, foot-in-mouth person she is, there would be many occasions in which she wished she could be swallowed whole in to the earth that she'd have enough to fill up a book with. But if she was going to number them in the order of "most wanted to be swallowed even to the depths of hell", this one would atleast crack her top 3.

Jackson and her had decided to take their relationship to the next level, physically, last week, 2 weeks after been almost caught by Mark in the supply closet. After having made the joke about "kissing IT and making it feel better" April had decided that that was something she actually wanted to try. Her limits were still set. Any actual sex would not occur until marriage. That was important to her. But other things ... Well, sure they were frowned upon by her religion, but she was after all a very hormonal, especially as of lately, teenager.

The first time she did it, she'd been pretty nervous. I mean, sure she'd done her research and all, which mostly consisted of reading "educational" material on it and having an extremely uncomfortable talk with Alex since Arizona flat out refused to talk to her about it, telling her the only advice she'd be willing to give April is if she decided one day she was into girls. However, it turned out to be a lot more enjoyable than she thought. Jackson was so insistent that she only do this if she was 100% comfortable with it and that had put her at ease. Turns out, she was very very good at it. When she done, Jackson was breathing heavily while staring at her in wonder. She initially suspected that she'd done something wrong and he was in pain but he had just been surprised that she had no previous experience on this front. She blushed heavily at that. And today, he'd returned the favour. Twice. Well .. almost. Which brought her mind back to why she wanted the earth to swallow her whole.

Mark was out and he'd only called to tell her he'd be home late and to have dinner without him, so April invited Jackson over. What she intended to be a movie date quickly escalated into a "returning the favour" date and there they were, in her bed, Jackson under covers working wonders with his tongue, for the second time that night, when she suddenly heard someone walking up the stairs. It took her sometime to fully comprehend what this could mean, considering how close she had been to cloud 9. When she finally grasped the situation, it was too late. Mark had already started opening the door, walking into the room.

"Hey apes. I picked up dinner and thought I'd come in early."

April froze. She could feel Jackson tense up between her. Her mind went blank. This was the last thing she had ever thought would happen to them. She wasn't stupid. She noticed Mark acting weirder since the time she heard her mentioning to Jackson about his suspicions of her dating. He'd been offering to drop her and pick her up from school, made a more active effort to be friendlier to Arizona and Alex and even volunteered to be the senior chaperone for a debate last week. April had rolled her eyes and written it off, hoping he'd eventually get tired of it, but she now realised that he wasn't giving up. She didn't realise just how careful she had to be. Tonight had been a trap. She inwardly groaned. Great. This was great. She was naked entirely except for the tank top she was wearing and she was flushed from her earlier ... Activities. The last person she wanted in the room right now was her brother. She shuddered.

"Heeeyyyyy Maaarrkkk. Um ... That's great. Really glad you're back ... But I need you to .. Leave. The room. I need you to leave the room. Like .. Right now." April said, keeping her voice calm. She could feel Jackson trying his best to breathe as low-key as possible. A fluctuating bed sheet would be more than just weird.

"Why ?" Mark asked, as he slowly walked around the room. April realized he was trying to be really subtle about checking her room for signs of a boy she'd hidden away. He was failing miserably at it. "You know. I think we should hang out. Just you and me. We haven't done that in a while." He said, while slowly peeking inside her bathroom.

"We had a movie night like 2 days ago." April said, rolling her eyes. Jackson was resting his head on one thigh and she felt his lips graze the inside of her thigh. Her breath hitched.

"Yes but ... We need to talk more. I barely know what's going on with your life." April raised her eyebrows at that ; yeah right, she thought. He was casually trying to look under her bed. April had enough. She needed Mark out of this room immediately.

"Mark, we talk everyday. All the time. We talk about our day during dinner, every single day for the past 10 plus years of my life. I know you more than you know yourself, and vise versa" Maybe less so now, April thought guiltily, but now was not the time for that.

"Yes. But ..." Mark began as he looked behind the curtains of her windows. April realised it was time to bring out the big guns.

"MARK. I AM ON MY PERIOD." She practically yelled. She heard Jackson try very hard to gulp down a laugh. Mark, thankfully, in his state of shock, didn't hear him.

"Oh. Oooohhhhh. Okay then. Sorry sorry. I'm leaving now." He quickly crossed the room. "If you need anything though just let me know okay ? I can run down to the store and get you some ..." April knew where this was going and right now she did not need to discuss anything related to her lady parts with Mark any further.

"MARK ! LEAVE ! NOW !"

"Going ! I'm going ! I'll drive to Joes and get us a pizza." He said, rushing out of the room. "With Extra ... Everything" he mumbled to himself. April let out a sigh and flopped back down on to her bed. Jackson's head popped out a few seconds later from under the covers, looking equal parts terrified and entertained.

"Well that wasn't awkward at all." Jackson whispered, pulling the sheet off and getting out of bed to lock the door. April groaned and buried her face in her pillow.

"We need to tell him." Jackson said. She could hear him getting dressed.

"Don't want to." April mumbled into the pillow. But she knew he was right. They had to come clean. Whatever happened she knew she had to face it because they couldn't sneak around like this anymore. Not only was she getting tired of having a mini heart attack every time Mark almost catches them together, she wasn't a fan of his latest project.

"He's trying to get me date Mathew." April said, sitting up on bed.

"What ?!" Jackson's head quickly shot up through the shirt he was putting up.

"Yeah. I think he's starting to realise that he can't completely keep me from dating boys so now he's trying to get me to date boys he knows will never go further than hold my hand." April giggled. Mathew was a fellow mathlete. He also went to the same church they did and they've known him since they were 10 years old. He was undeniably gorgeous, but April had never seen him as more than a friend. He was really innocent and blushed and stuttered whenever April talked to him. He was also deathly afraid of Mark. Which meant that Mark could keep tabs on them and be assured that Mathew would never do anything the least bit inappropriate with April.

Jackson was quiet. She could see his eyes turn dark. Whenever he was angry they went from been the gorgeous blue-green-grey shade to this almost deep brown-blackish colour.

"Do you want to ?" He sounded angry. But she could hear the hurt. He was extremely jealous. She noticed his hands tightening into fists.

April walked over and hugged his waist. "Don't be silly. Ofcourse not. You're stuck with me, Jackman. Too late to change your mind." She said, kissing his cheek.

He grinned, giving her a peck. "Good. Because you're stuck with me too." He said, laughing quietly. "But we should tell him … whatever happens. Because .. I want this April. And I mean, I really want this." The sincerity of his voice got to her. Yes, she had to do this. She could convince Mark. She knew that whatever said and done, he had her best interests in mind. He did this out of love and since she didn't really have a dad to do this he was been above and beyond cautious to make up for it. But when he sees that what she and Jackson have is real, he'd change his mind. Yes, he'll change his mind. He had to. She loved her brother and Jackson both very much. She didn't want to have to choose.

* * *

"I love you."

Yep. He'd said that. April realised as she was standing in front of Jackson, mouth and eyes wide open, that those words had in fact escaped his mouth. She didn't know what to say. They were at Alex's house. She had introduced him to her bestfriends that night. They'd gotten long great, which had been huge relief. Now, Alex had left, and Arizona was in the kitchen cleaning up on dinner. Her parents were out for the whole night, so April was staying over, keeping her company.

She could see him get uncomfortable. She realised then that the reason may have had to do with the fact that she'd been silent for way too long. Not reacting was sometimes worse.

"You don't have to say it back ... I mean .. You could. You don't have to. I wish you would. Not like that should be any pressure for you to ..." He was rambling. Rambling was her thing and he was doing it. And it was so cute. Gosh she adored him. He was smart, sweet, funny, caring. He loved her for all the right reasons. And she .. She loved him. She had no doubt about it.

She kissed him to shut him up. "You're so cute. I love you too." She said, arms wrapped around his waist

"You do ?" He asked, with a child-like glee.

"Yep. I know it feels too soon, but ... I think I've felt like this even before we started dating." April admitted. Truth be told she'd been in love with him for as long as she can remember.

"Me too." He said, smiling at her.

April realised that this moment right here was something she was going to remember for the rest of her life. She maybe 17, but she didn't think her age discounted her feelings for Jackson. She knew that if anything they would only get stronger years to come. She wanted this, with him, forever. It suddenly hit her all at once. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She was so sure of it.

"Jackson ... I think I'm ready." She said, tentatively.

"Ready for what ?" He asked her, tucking a fallen piece of behind her ear.

"You knoooowww." She looked at him, biting her lip, her eyes full of mischief.

"What ?" He asked her laughing. And suddenly it hit him. "Wait. Are you ... No. Really ?"

"Yes. Really. I want to." She replied. And she did. She was so sure of it.

"No. No April. We don't have to. I mean I didn't say I loved you because of that." He said, looking worried. "I know you're saving yourself for marriage. I don't want you to give that up for me." It was sweet that he respected her ideals. She knew that sometimes they weren't exactly the easiest thing for him to understand, but she loved that he tried his hardest to. It just intensified her desire to be with him even more.

"Okay first of all, I'm not saying this just because you said I love you. Does it make me want to more than I already did ? Yes. But that doesn't mean I'm only doing this because of that." She said, smiling softly at him. "The reason I wanted to be a virgin for the man I'm going to marry isn't just because of my religion. Sure, I got the idea at church, but I also just wanted it to be with someone special. I don't know. I used to think that that person was your husband. But now ... I don't want to scare you off, but ... Maybe we'll be together for ... A long time and so maybe I'm not breaking my promise to Jesus. And even if .. We don't ... Maybe you can have more than one special person in your life. I just ... I know I'll never regret it." She looked at coyly. She knew that she had basically hinted that she thought they'd get married eventually. She wasn't sure if that was too much for him too soon.

"Are you saying you want to marry me?" He asked her, smirking, causing her to blush a deep shade of red. "Because I don't know babe, I kind of want a little more elaborate proposal than this."

She laughed at that.

"I get what you mean though." He said. "I'd marry you right now."

"That's sweet but I don't think the start of our marriage should be with you behind bars." April joked, poking him in the chest. Jackson laughed loudly, leaning into kiss her.

* * *

They had agreed to hold off actually having sex until Jackson's graduation, which would be happening in a month. She also needed to tell Mark about this way before that. He beat out Jackson for valedictorian by a short mile and had been gloating for a week or so now. She thought now was a good time because he was in a great mood, getting into Harvard with a full scholarship, which had been his first choice, for more reasons than one, including the fact that he wanted to remain in Boston until April herself graduated from high school. His team had also won the final game they played last week and that had been thanks to Jackson's winning shot. So, April figured maybe he'd be more understanding. Or maybe she was just convincing herself this. But it had to be done. Jackson was also going to Harvard and since she'd be graduating next year, it just felt right. It didn't stop her from been scared to death though.

"I'm gonna go and heat up the pizza. Coming ?" Jackson asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. She had come over to Jackson's place on the weekend after a sleepover with Arizona, before going back to her place. They had ended up taking a shower together, which had been so exciting because they'd never done that before. Although all it had done was make it more impossible for either of them to stick to the plan of waiting for one more month. She tried not to get too excited anyway. She wasn't certain, regardless of everything, the consequences of telling Mark about them.

"Go ahead. I'll just put my hair up and come." She smiled at him.

"Sure." He said, waking out of the door.

She located her hair tie and put her hair up in a bun, contemplated whether or not to change her clothes and decided to stay in the towel. She could do it after they ate. She made her way down the stairs a minute later and headed to the kitchen. She heard whispers coming from the kitchen, one voice clearly belonging to Jackson and the other was she couldn't exactly place. She figured it was Jackson's house keeper, Linda. She'd known about them for a while now and she was always sweet to April, especially when she had found out what had happened to her parents.

"Jackson." She called out, hoping she'd get an indication as to whether or not she should come out dressed the way she is. "Jackson." She called out again, walking towards the kitchen, fully expecting to find him and Linda talking to one another.

"April."

Oh. Shit. That voice definitely did not belong to Jackson. But she knew exactly who it did belong to. Shit. Shit. Shit. Mark. It was Mark. How the hell did he get in here ?

"This is not happening!" April muttered to herself quickly looking around the room to escape. She figured the best solution was to sprint back up the stairs and have Mark assume he was going crazy or something. But before she could do anything, Mark came out of the kitchen and spotted her standing in the hallway, in a towel, wet hair in a bun.

Oh. Shit.

"April." This time he said it, not only confused, but also angry. No no, not angry. Furious. He looked her up and down, turned back towards Jackson, who was wearing only a pair of boxers, water still on his body. He looked back at April and she saw realization dawning on his face. He knew. He'd figured it out. April desperately looked at Jackson, who looked back at her helplessly.

"Listen man ..."

"Mark ... I ..."

"You Mother Fu ..."

Before either one of them could say anything, April watched in horror as Mark plunged towards Jackson.

 **THANK YOU FOR READING !**

 **If you have any prompts, you can leave them in the comments or if they are specific or detailed, hit me up on tumblr at "astoldbyacertifiedunicorn"**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi all ! I know it's been a while since I've posted a one shot and I am so very sorry about that. there's no real excuse, except for the fact that I had major writer's block on how to finish this fic. This is the second part of my previous fic which I am so so glad that so many of you really enjoyed. Thank you so very much for your wonderful reviews. They're such a joy to read. Anyway, please excuse any grammatical mistakes I may have made (but don't be shy to point them out - English is not my first language so I'm always open to learning !) THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE (Hope this really long chapter makes up for it)**

 **Please review and let me know your thoughts - I struggled a bit with how to end it, hopefully you like it.**

 **Disclaimer : I do not own these characters. They are property of Shonda Rhimes and Grey's Anatomy**

* * *

 _ **Young Love : Part 2**_

"STOP. STOP. MARK PLEASE STOP." April yelled, while trying to pull her brother off of her boyfriend. He was too strong for her, but she had to do something, because Mark was beating Jackson up and Jackson wasn't really putting up a fight. She figured he felt too guilty and probably also felt like he deserved it. April finally managed to push Mark off of Jackson long enough for her to pull Jackson to his feet and stand in front of him.

"Are you okay?" She said, looking back at him. He had a cut on his lip and a blue patch was forming on his right cheek. Jackson merely nodded, although April knew he was beyond okay. She felt horrible. She looked back to see Mark already gearing up for a second round.

"NO! STOP! YOU CAN'T HIT HIM LIKE THAT! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" She yelled, tears threatening to spill over at any moment.

"ME?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?! THIS BASTARD IS SLEEPING WITH MY SISTER! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU." He yelled, lunging forward yet again.

"MARK STOP! YOU'RE ACTING CRAZY!" She said, putting her arms on his chest, and pushing him back. He stopped at that and she saw he'd realized that he wouldn't be able to throw in another punch as long as April was around.

"Go get dressed. NOW." Mark said, his chest heaving from the anger and adrenaline. Although he was talking to her, he was staring at Jackson with so much hate. Jackson, on the other hand, was looking at the floor, avoiding eye contact.

"How … How did you get in here?" She asked, refusing to move. She knew that if she left now, he'd just go back to making Jackson his personal punching bag.

"REALLY ?! That's what you …. Fine. I know where he keeps the extra key. Something he told me back when we used to be friends." Mark said, bluntly, making no effort to be subtle about hinting that they were no longer friends. "He said he was going to be with his mom the whole day, so I thought that I'd come in and set up a small party to celebrate us getting into Harvard. Surprise him and all." April detected the betrayal in his voice and it broke her. Not only had what they'd done led to Mark been betrayed by his sister, but also by his best friend. She hadn't really considered this before. She saw Jackson look away, the hurt on his face not going unnoticed.

"Mark … Just please let me explain, okay?" April began, still refusing to let go of her hold on Jackson.

"I can't believe you would … No actually, I can. I can believe you would do this. I can't believe you could lie to me without feeling even a little guilty about it. This is my sister, dude. I get that you can't keep it in your pants for more than a day but MY SISTER! I thought we were best friends. I treated you like a brother." Mark said, shaking his head.

"How could you … She's not like that. I would never do that to her." Jackson said, speaking up for the first time since the whole ordeal began. "I would never do that to you."

Mark scoffed, choosing anger as his dominant emotion, April saw him clench his fists once again.

"What? You love her?" Mark said, sarcastically. "You think he loves you?"

"I do."

"He does."

"You actually fed her that bullshit? And YOU actually believed HIM? He says that to every chick just to get in their pants. And I can't believe I actually used to laugh with you when you talked about another girl you bagged. God …" Mark said, now pacing around the room.

"Is that what you think of me?" Jackson said, untangling himself from April, and walking towards Mark. April quickly rushed towards him and pulled him back, knowing that his actions would just trigger a violent reaction from Mark. She knew he was upset, it hurt to have your best friend talk about you like that. But she needed him to understand that Mark was just saying that because he was upset. April wasn't an idiot, she knew Jackson had a more than questionable past when it came to girls, but he was far from the sleazy playboy Mark was making him out to be. And he'd changed. She knew with her whole heart that with her it was different.

"Yeah, I was a douche, okay. I treated girls horribly. I was a jerk. I admit it. And I feel awful about it. I told you I wanted to change. I told you I didn't want to just sleep around anymore. I'm not THAT guy. And I wasn't even as bad as you're making me out to be when I was that guy." Jackson continued, rubbing his hand over his face, giving out a frustrated sigh. April generally always "kissed his frustration off" as he liked to call it whenever he was upset about something. She knew that he always relaxed, no matter how worked up he was, whenever she kissed him. Although she figured right now, kissing him is the last thing that would make this situation better.

"No. You're worse than that guy, because at least I could trust that guy. I TRUSTED YOU. I trusted you with April. I trusted you with the most important person in my life and you … Did you not care at all?" Mark said, sounding tormented. She looked back at Jackson and saw that his sudden brave façade was going off. He looked guilty and ashamed.

"Mark … Just please, okay? Listen … I …" April began, walking towards her brother again and taking his hand in hers. She gasped when he shook her off, with force.

"Get dressed, April." He said, looking down, refusing to even make eye contact with her.

"I … Jackson?" She looked to her boyfriend to say something, to make this better because she had absolutely no idea how to do that. But he looked away from her, refusing to meet her eyes just like Mark. She was so lost and confused. She needed him. She needed him to convince Mark that this wasn't just sex to him, that they meant more.

"I'll go get your clothes." He said, looking away, defeated. He let go of her arm and walked towards the staircase, taking the stairs two at a time. April had never felt so many emotions in her whole life. She was sad, angry, scared and confused. She was in over her head with this whole situation and it felt like she was fighting this whole thing alone.

"Mark, please, listen to me. He's not like that. He was. He isn't anymore. He changed. He … He's wonderful, and caring and …" April said, flustered, running her hands through her hair, making some kind of attempt to better this situation.

"You know, for someone who's so smart, I never thought you could be this stupid. Gosh. I …" Mark was interrupted by Jackson coming down the stairs, carrying her clothes and her bag. He handed them over to her wordlessly, still refusing to look at her face. It drove her mad. She wanted to shake him and force him to just look at her, but he continued to stare at his feet.

She realized that whatever happens after this, she couldn't deal with at this particular point. They needed to talk, but now was definitely not going to be the time. She took the stuff from him, and went into the kitchen, keeping an eye on them both, in case Mark took her momentary absence to jump Jackson.

"Okay, let's go." Mark said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the door, once she joined them, fully clothed. She didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to Jackson. April twisted her body around, keeping her face away from Mark's view and looked at Jackson, who she was relieved to see was finally looking at her, although his expression was too painful to bear. She mouthed, "I love you" before the Mark slammed the door behind them, so she didn't get to see his response. She wasn't sure where they were going to go from here, 'they' been both Jackson and Mark. She wasn't sure the extent of the damage she'd done to either one of the relationships. All she could do is pray that at the end of the day, she hadn't screwed it all up too much.

* * *

She needed to see him. They needed to speak to one another. She had to know why he was ignoring her, acting like she doesn't exist, like they never happened. April knew he was probably trying to be respectful to Mark, but it still hurt. He never called, or picked up the phone when she called, he also avoided any and all eye contact with her whenever she tried to catch his eye at school. It broke her. She couldn't believe that this was the same person who just 2 weeks ago, couldn't keep his eyes off her. Whenever she looked at him, she'd catch him staring at her, with this look of pure joy, lust and love. He loved her. She knew he did. True, it hadn't been too long since they said it to each other for the first time, but she believed him. She never doubted it. Because he never gave her a reason to. Until now.

"I think they're here." Arizona said, bringing her back to reality. April knew that considering the fact that he avoided her at all costs, he'd never agree to meet her. So she had to get a bit more creative. She knew that ever since she introduced them, Alex and Jackson had gotten close, they'd become friends even. And she knew Jackson needed a friend right now. She'd asked Alex to invite Jackson to his place, pretending to want to watch the game, so that they could finally have a conversation.

"Hey. Go. He's waiting in the living room. You owe me, Apes. The dude's probably going to kill me for this." Alex said, walking into the kitchen and taking off his jacket.

April quickly got up and walked out in to the living room. She was nervous. She hadn't seen him in a while and she knew he was at the very least upset with her. She knew that at least partially what happened with him and Mark was her fault. He'd wanted to tell Mark and she'd prevented it. She needed a chance for them to work things out. She loved Mark, so much. But, she loved Jackson too. And she needed them both in her life. They just had to figure it out.

"Hey." She said, walking into the room, taking him by surprise. He was wearing this black shirt of his that he wore on their first date and it took all she had to not run to him and kiss him senseless.

"April? What are you - Seriously? Did you plan this?" Jackson asked. April knew he would be upset, but she never thought he'd sounded downright pissed.

"Look, I had to see you okay? You've been avoiding me since ... You know. And ... You don't return my calls, you ignore me at school and ... We need to talk okay?" April said, walking towards him, needing to touch him. Her heart broke immediately however when she tried to take his hand and he brushed it off moving away from her. She didn't understand why he was acting like this. She knew he was upset, but she didn't get why he was so mad at her. She figured he needed some time to get himself together but he'd be ready to talk to her and work things out. Granted, April realised she probably shouldn't have surprised him with the talk, but she had needed to talk to him.

"Talk about what? Look, if this is just a set-up, I'm leaving." Jackson said, grabbing his jacket and making his way to the door.

"What do you mean 'talk about wh - JACKSON! STOP! LISTEN!" She yelled, the sound of her voice causing him to turn back around and face her. But he wasn't looking at her. She needed him to look at her.

"Just ... Listen, okay? I know you're still reeling in from all this. And I'm sorry I dropped this on you out of nowhere. But I miss you so much. And and I don't just miss kissing you ... Or touching you. I just ... I miss you. And I miss talking to you. And just being there with you. So just ... let's figure this out okay?" She said, running her hands up his arms, resting them on his shoulders. She was happy to see him relax against her touch. His face softened from the cold look he'd been sporting and he almost purred she caressed his cheek. She wrapped her arms around him, leaning her head against his chest. She breathed him in, the familiar scent of his cologne mixed with a scent that she identified as him. But the moment she relaxed against him, his body went rigid. April felt him twist away from her, untangling herself from him.

"There's nothing to figure out April." He muttered quietly, walking away from her. April was mad now. He was acting like a completely different person. Almost like they had broken up. She knew he'd needed time but she never thought he'd act like they were over. She walked up to him, pulling his arm to get his attention.

"April just move, okay I ha-"

"WHAT ? Did you break up with me and I never got the memo ? Is that what this is ? Or or ... was Mark right ... About you. What ? Was I just another notch in your stupid chastity belt ?" April said. She immediately regretted her choice of words. She was harsh, she knew that. But she was so angry at the way he was acting. Avoiding her, like they were over. She only said it because she needed him to deny it, to tell her he loved her, to assure her that they were fine. She looked at his face and saw the clear outrage at her statement. She knew it would get a reaction out of him. He looked so mad that she would even suggest something like that. But not a second later, she saw his face change. He looked down at his feet, looking back up in resignation.

"It's true. He was right. I just wanted to get into your pants, April." Jackson said, although it sounded almost rehearsed. April gasped. She'd expected a lot of things but that wasn't it. He was lying. She knew he was lying. He loved her. He said it. This was just a really bad joke.

"No. NO. You ... You said you loved me. You did. I know you did. I-"

"Of course I said that. I say that to everyone. It worked didn't it ? I almost got laid right after I said it." April was dumbfounded. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This wasn't the Jackson she knew. This person was cold and he was saying things the old Jackson would knock him out for.

"NO. This isn't you. You ... I WAS THERE. I was there in the relationship with you. I never for a second doubted why you wanted to be with me. The person I was with was kind and loving and amazing. And he NEVER made me doubt him for a second when he told me he loved me. Jackson, WHA- WHO ARE YOU?!" April said, the hot tears that had gathered in her eyes, threatening to spill.

"I faked it April. God, how could you be so stupid ? Of course I acted like I wanted you. I'm good at that. And you bought it. And ... You know what ? I need to go."

"YOU ... YOU'RE LYING. I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE DOING THIS BUT YOU'RE LYING." She was crying now, unable to hold back the tears any longer, her hands, tightened into fists, were hitting him on the chest. She was furious, but mostly broken. He was breaking her. Because he sounded so ... Cold. So unlike himself that her resolve was slowly breaking. That she was now trying to convince herself more than him. It surprised her that he was just standing there, letting her hit him. Almost as if he believed he deserved it. He finally gently grasped her wrists and held them away.

"I was lying. Now I'm finally telling you the truth. I'm sorry, April but ... I don't ... I don't want you. I don't ... love you." He said really quietly, his voice breaking towards the end. She was breaking down now, loudly sobbing, unable to form words. He walked away, and this time April let him. She couldn't control her body any longer and she slid down the wall and sat down on the floor, her eyes blurry with tears. She heard sounds of footsteps walking towards her, a friendly arm around her shoulder, voices soothing her and asking if she was okay, if she wanted them to punch Jackson out. But April was too far into her misery. She never imagined that their relationship was a lie. But he sounded so certain. So cold. So unlike himself. Or maybe, April thought, exactly like himself. Maybe Mark was right. Maybe April had been too stupid to see what everyone else saw. Jackson had only wanted her as a trophy. Something he'd tell his friends while they were changing in the locker room. It didn't make any sense to her. Nothing added up. But right now, in this moment, she didn't what to do but to wonder if you could ever really lose someone you never really had to begin with.

* * *

"Hey." She snapped back to reality, hearing Mark's voice. He was standing in front of her shuffling his feet, looking down. She felt guilty around him all the time. She knew what her and Jackson had done hurt him. On top of keeping her relationship a secret, she was also refusing to speak to him now. She'd barely said a sentence to him since that day. April was constantly torn between wanting bear hug him and cry on his shoulder, while apologising profusely and never speaking to him for as long as she lived. So far, she'd managed to find the ability to go with the latter, but she was a few days away from switching to the former. She missed Mark. He was her favorite person in the whole world. She adored him. And they were close. April could, well used to be able to, say anything to Mark and it pained her that she was hurting without been able to have him console her. However, she wasn't ready to forgive him yet. She was angry and she was hurt as well. But so was he. Their relationship had been heavily affected by this, and the guilt of been partially responsible for that, made her even more adamant to not forgive him. April wasn't sure her reasoning made sense.

She looked at him and saw that he was standing in front of the porch swing she was sitting. She looked away, refusing to answer him. She really wanted to. She wanted to make up. But the truth was she was hurting too much from what Jackson had said to her. She never wanted to believe that they're entire relationship was a lie. She still couldn't. But he'd said it. And he'd broken her because of it. She couldn't hate him as much as she wanted to because every single piece of her still loved him. It was impossible. For her, it had been real and even if his feelings for her had been just a sick joke, it didn't make the relationship feel any less real. That had nothing to do with Mark. She couldn't hold him responsible for that and so she couldn't be mad at him. Or rather she shouldn't. He didn't break them apart. He'd just ended something that would have ended anyway. She knew that she had to at least be grateful that Mark put an end to it before she'd lost her virginity to a bet Jackson had made with himself. A fact she still refused to let herself believe. He'd loved her. She had been so sure of it. So maybe she was mad at Mark for knowing,what had taken Jackson having to spell it out for her, for her to realise. She was also mad at herself. For falling in love with Jackson, for believing his feelings were real. She'd been mad initially for her part in hurting Jackson, and Mark and ruining their friendship. But she realised that maybe they weren't as great friends as she had initially thought they were. But she knew that wasn't true as well. She knew their relationship. They were like brothers. And to top off all the confusion, Jackson had wanted to tell Mark. If this was a joke to him would he have been so eager to go public with her. She didn't get it. April's head was filled with questions that no one could answer. Well, maybe Jackson could. But he'd given her an answer. She just didn't think that answer was a good one. She needed to feel something other than misery, so she was choosing to feel angry. At Mark. Although she knew he didn't deserve any of it.

She heard Mark sigh, and sit next to her. He picked up her feet and gently placed them across his lap. She still wouldn't look at him.

"Do you remember when Mom would sit in the swing and we'd place our legs over hers and she'd give the best foot rubs ever?" Mark said, with a distant look on his face. April's expression softened. Mark wasn't shy when it came to speaking about his feelings, unless those feelings involved their parents. The last time he spoke about them was when they went for the therapy Aunt Alice forced them to go to. She knew that he always held back. She never knew why.

"Yeah. And she'd tell us these stories about how awkward she was as a teenager ... And then dad would always come and make fun of her." April said, laughing softly. She looked at Mark saw that he was shocked she was engaging in conversation. It had been a while since she's said a full sentence to him.

"He'd call her his little geek. And she was all like, um who are you calling a nerd, Mr. I-spent-hundreds-of-dollars-on-children's-toys. And he'd be all, they aren't toys, Karen ! They are action figures !" Mark said, bursting out laughing. April joined along with him. It had been so long since she had had a genuine laugh and a conversation about their parents that wasn't filled with tension. She had always loved her parent's relationship. They were so different from each other and yet they worked so effortlessly. Maybe her relationship with Jackson reminded her of her parent's one. She shook the thought out of her mind. It hurt too much to think about it like that.

"God I miss them." Mark said, looking back at her. She could've sworn she saw tears. She shifted her position and hugged him. He rested his head on her shoulder.

"Me too." She said, hugging him tighter. They sat there in a comfortable silence for a while, until Mark spoke up.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to see you sad. But ... This is for your own good. You don't know him like I do." Mark said, lifting his head up, breaking the moment.

"Being miserable is for my own good ?" April asked, scoffing. "But you were right. I don't know him." April said, feeling herself tear up. She was so mad that she got this affected by Jackson's behavior. But she couldn't help it. She loved him. She meant it when she said that. And she'd been almost willing to give him a part of herself that was very important to her. To someone who she thought loved her. She didn't want to believe the whole thing was fake, that it was all an elaborate plan to get into her pants. When she was with him, it felt real. So real. She never doubted it for a minute. Not even when she had her share of insecurities. She was back to feeling confused.

"I told you. I know you cared for him but he only wants one thing and I told you that." Mark said, getting up. "I can't believe you'd ... God. I never thought you'd do something so dumb. And LIE TO ME. I never thought you'd lie to me."

"I didn't mean to okay. I was going to tell you. We were going to ... We just ... Never got around to it. I feel AWFUL that I betrayed your trust. It makes me sick." April said, following him into the house.

"You thought you loved him ? God April ... I mean, you're what 17 ? What do you even know about love ?" Mark said, walking around the kitchen island.

"Don't you dare say that. I love him. I do. I KNOW I LOVE HIM. So what ? Just because I'm 17 I can't fall in love ? Are you kidding me ?! Maybe I don't love him as much as I could when I'm 30. But I love him now as much as I can love him now. You can question his love me for me all you want but don't you dare assume what I felt for him wasn't real." April said, walking purposefully behind him. Every inch of her felt like she was on fire. She had loved him. Regardless of how he'd felt she has adored him. She wouldn't let anyone doubt her.

"I thought you were so convinced he loved you the last time I checked ?" Mark scoffed.

"I am ... I mean I was ... I ... YOU WERE RIGHT OKAY ? Is that what you want to hear ? The whole thing was this stupid stupid bet he made with himself that he could get it on with the clueless, idiot geek who'd actually think that he loved her. Is that what you want to hear ? Because YOU WERE RIGHT." April couldn't hold her tears anymore. She was sick of having everyone tell her how stupid she was to love Jackson.

"April ..." Mark moved towards her, holding out his arms. She leaned into him and let him hold her. Regardless of what happened, she needed her older brother.

"I know it was stupid, okay ? But ... I believed him. He was so ... He gave me no reason not to. He loved me. Well, he didn't. But he did an outstanding job of convincing me he did. And I know I should hate him but I can't ... I still love him so much. And and ... It hurts so much that sometimes I can't breathe. And I hate myself for believing him and I hate myself for still wanting to believe that it was real and I hate ... All of this. And I just need my brother because he's the only person who can make me feel better but he hates me because I screwed everything up being this selfish, oblivious person I clearly am." She clung on to Mark, his shirt completely ruined but she felt ... Better for the first time in a long time. She never realized how despite having Arizona and Alex, she needed to be comforted by Mark.

"Hey hey. I'm here okay. April, you always have me. Look, I'm sorry okay ? I'm sorry that ... you feel this way. I never wanted you to get hurt. And I'm sorry if I made you feel alone. You're my sister, you always have me. No matter what." Mark said, pulling her a chair and moving to find her tissues. She probably looked like a slobbering mess. "What do I always say?"

"There are times I want to kill you, but I'll kill for you anytime." April said, laughing halfheartedly at that. That had been their agreement that no matter how much they fought they'll always have each other's backs. Something she was really grateful for. "Thank you."

"Wait ... He said that? That ... It was a ... bet?" Mark asked, handing her a tissue. She blew her nose, and looked up at him, nodding slowly. She may have been mistaken, but she could have sworn that she saw a look of extreme guilt on his face. She was going to question him on it, but decided that it probably had to do with the fact that they had taken so long to makeup. She felt bad that he felt personally responsible for it. It wasn't like she was the most receptive person to his efforts.

"Yeah. I ... um ... I had to speak with him. DON'T GET MAD. I just ... I'm sorry. I needed to ... I ..." She forgot that revealing that piece of information would mean having to confess that she had met up with Jackson, tried to do the one thing he'd forbidden her to do. Maybe this was karma.

"You ..." Mark sighed in frustration. "Well at least you got to know I was right. I told you, and it hurts that you didn't believe me, but ... Now you know. Better now than later."

April solemnly agreed. It would have killed her to have found out about this after she slept with him. It doesn't mean it hurt any less.

"I'm sorry he hurt you. I really am." Mark said, giving her a side hug, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.

"Wanna go egg his house ? Dad would've totally been up for it." Mark said, laughing.

"God no. But yes, Dad would've dragged me with him." April replied, giggling whole heartedly.

"It's my fault." Mark said, quietly. "It's my fault."

"What?" April was confused. She knew that he felt guilty about her been hurt but it was not entirely his fault at all.

"It was my fault they died. They were coming to my game. You know dad was going to go on a business trip and mom had this important meeting and I yelled at them that they didn't care enough to come. They only came because I guilt them into it. They came for every single game, you know. And this wasn't even a real game. And they felt so bad for missing it. But I yelled at them, made them feel worse than they already did. If I wasn't so ... selfish. God ... They'd still be ..." Mark's voice broke at the end and April saw tears form in his eyes. She was shocked. Never in her entire life had she thought he'd blame himself for her parents' death. Of course she didn't blame him. It was a shitty shitty thing that shouldn't have happened to anyone but it had happened. But never in her life had she ever blamed her brother for it. The confession however did help April understand Mark in a better light. Things made more sense to her now.

"Oh god how could you ... THAT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT. I can't believe you've been thinking that. Mark what happened was awful and it was ... None of that was your fault. Don't you dare blame yourself." April hugged him really tight.

"It's why I'm so hard on you. I'm the reason you don't have parents. So I have to step up, you know. Give you what I took away from you." He said, softly.

"Hey. Listen to me. YOU didn't take them away okay. This is not at all your fault. I NEED you to believe that. Because it's true. What happened sucks but you are not the reason it happened. You have nothing to make up for. I have parents, they're not here right now, but ... I have them. And them not been here is not your fault." It was vital to April he knew that.

"I have to protect you. I have to ... " Mark said, sitting down on the chair next to her, hiding his face in his hands.

"Mark ... I know you have to protect me, okay. And ... I know you're doing it for mom and dad. You ... I love you. But you can't keep me locked up. It doesn't mean I won't get hurt. You just ... Have to be there for me when I do. That's all I want. That's all mom and dad wanted. And we have Aunt Alice. So that's enough of parenting thank you. I don't want more parents Mark. I want a brother. And by parenting me you're pushing me away and ... I miss you all the time but we're not what we used to be. I can't trust you with everything because you're too busy been a parent to be my brother. You don't have to fend off all the evil in my life. You can't. You have to let me make my own choices. Just ... be there for me if it goes wrong. You're so afraid of losing me that you're holding on so tight and in doing that you're losing me faster. I'd never kept a secret from you. And I hate that I did but I had to. I just don't want to feel so detached from you. Jackson ... He was my mistake to make. You have to let me make mistakes. And get hurt. It's not your job to stop me from making my own choices. It's your job to be there when those choices fall through." April looked at him, communicating what she needed him to know. She knew he needed to know that she would never blame him for her parent's deaths and she needed him to know that what he was doing wasn't working. It was pushing her further away and she didn't want. They needed each other. But she couldn't feel like she was been suffocated either. She needed him to pull back his reins if they were to go back to their old relationship.

She gave a him a long hug, cried some more and left without another word. She saw him stare after her as she walked up the stairs. She hadn't felt this ... free in a long while. She'd cried as much as she could about Jackson, it still hurt but she could heal. She knew she could. It would take time, but it was not impossible. And Mark ... She found out something about him that had made her realise why he'd changed from been her goofy brother to the person who made her feel like she had no free will over her own decisions. April wasn't sure about a lot of things that night, but she knew that this was the first step to healing. For both of them.

* * *

It was the day of Mark's graduation. April was sitting with Aunt Alice and hundreds of other people, on the school grounds, waiting to celebrate the happiness of the people they love. She looked up to the front to see that the Jackson was ready to go to stage next. He looked absolutely gorgeous as he always did, wearing the cap and the cloak, smirking with pride. Regardless of how much it hurt to look at him, she couldn't help but feel her heart surge in happiness. She still loved him, she couldn't help it. She caught his eye and for a moment she saw his smile falter, he looked sad. April rapidly looked away. She was just seeing things that she wanted to see. She wanted him to feel bad about what he'd done so she was hoping he did. She clapped along as the loud audience of students cheered for him. He was popular after all. And next, it was Mark's turn to make his speech. She looked at him proudly, she was so happy he'd made it. There was never a doubt about it. His speech was tasteful, a good combination of good advice and humour so that people weren't bored but they also took something away from it.

"Now, I've had this speech prepared for weeks. Way before I even knew I was going to valedictorian because let's face it, we all knew I was." that garnered a laugh from the audience and his teachers. "But ... Something occurred to me recently, thanks to someone very special, that maybe you'd all appreciate. I thanked the parents before, but I never got to you a piece of advice as well. It's hard letting your kids go. I get it. No, I don't have a kid myself, but I did help raise one." He said, smiling at April. She wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this because when she'd gone through his speech this morning this part wasn't in it.

"The thing is it's easy to get attached. To feel scared that once you let them go, you can't protect them from the awful things in this world. All of you here have done everything you could, always, to make sure your kid didn't get hurt. But ... You weren't always successful. That doesn't mean you failed. As someone pointed out to me, you can't protect them from all the bad things in this world, you can just be there for them when bad things happen, because they need you. They always will. Don't hold them back. They'll make their own choices, and sometimes those choices will fall through, and the best you can do is to never make them think they're alone, because after all, no matter what, they have you. Thank you." He got a standing ovation for that speech. April wasn't surprised to see Aunt Alice and most of the other parents in tears after that. She'd never thought he'd actually take what she said to heart.

After, the ceremony was over, she saw Mark walking up to them. After Aunt Alice had fussed over him and told him how proud she was, she's gone over to talk to Mathew's mother. Mark held his hands out to April and she was engulfed in a hug.

"That was some speech." April said, looking at him curiously.

"Thought you'd like it." He said, smirking at her. "You were right. I hate that you were right. But ... You were. I need to let you make your own choices, no matter how ... Poor they might be and trust you with them. I'm sorry. About everything."

"You're the best." April felt herself tear up in contentment. She smiled at him and punched him on the arm.

"Not really. I'm not." Mark said, the look of guilt she'd seen in his face that night returning. "Look ... I honestly did think Jackson was bad for you. I just ..."

"Hey it's cool. You turned out to be right anyway." April said, trying to keep the heartbreak out of her voice. This was a day of celebration. She wasn't going to ruin it for Mark by wallowing in pity.

"Yeah, except maybe I wasn't." Mark replied, sounding apologetic.

"What?"

"He only said that thing about the bet and ... everything else because ... I may have asked him to. Well not exactly like that but ... I told him to tell you whatever it took for you to never feel like going back to him. He hated it. Didn't want to do it. Begged me to just let him prove that he really does love you. But, I ... I told him that if our friendship meant anything to him, he'd do it. I convinced him that he was bad for you. I convinced him that if he loved you, he'd let you go." Mark finished, and looked at her expectantly. She was completely taken back that she couldn't even form clear thought. Everything she had spent the last weeks convincing herself turned out to be a lie. He did love her, she'd been right in the first place. April had spent so much time telling herself she was over it that at one point she'd believed it. But the moment she heard this, she knew it wasn't true. She just had no idea where to go from here.

"Do you hate me ?" Mark asked, looking at the ground.

April realised that she should be furious with him. He'd played a much larger role in her pain than she'd previously thought. But, she couldn't. Their relationship had grown since that conversation they had. She knew more about the rationale behind his behavior than she had previously. She knew that as awful as what he did was, he thought it was for the best. And she couldn't hate him for that. Not anymore.

"No. I want to. But ... I don't. I'm upset. I can't ... But, I lied too. I betrayed you too. I broke your trust and ... So it would make me a hypocrite if I held this against you." April said, smiling at him, although her head was hurting with all this information.

"Look, he's a good guy. I always knew that. I was just hurt ... And I thought I was right. But ... You were right. He loves you. A lot. I'd never seen him break down the way he did. Go on. Go make those choices you want to make so badly. I got your back." Mark said, gently pushing her towards Jackson, who was standing near the refreshments.

"No."

"What ?" Mark asked, confused.

"No. I don't ... He made a choice. He could've fought for us, or he could've done whatever you asked him to do. He didn't want me enough. So no. I can't forgive him. He hurt me too much. I don't care if he didn't mean it. I can't feel that way again. No way." April knew that even if what Jackson had said that night was out of love for her, she had depended on him to be there for them. To fight for them. She hadn't gotten over the hurt he'd caused her and so she wasn't ready to forgive him. Let alone take him back.

"Wha- okay. Look, it's your choice whether you forgive him or not. But ... I thought you deserved to know how he felt. Actually felt. He loves you. He thinks the sun shines out of your ass. It does, but that's beside the point. Don't hold on to blame, Apes. Take it from me." Mark said, looking at her, smiling sadly. She knew that he was talking about their parents. And she knew he was right. Holding on to hurt wasn't going to help her. She knew she had to let it go. But she didn't know how. And even if she did, she didn't know if she would be healed enough to ever risk getting hurt by him again.

* * *

"Really Mark, this party is for YOU. You can't be late. Honestly, I can't believe you're making a pit stop at school to get your lucky basketball to take to the party. If you wanted a date so bad, you should have just asked Lexie." April said, groaning in protest as she was dragged across a deserted school hallway by Mark. It was a good week after graduation and Aunt Alice had decided to throw Mark a party before he went off on his senior road trip he'd planned with Jackson and a couple of his other friends last year. She had initially been allowed to join them, an achievement she was incredibly proud of because back then it meant a road trip with her boyfriend and time to hang out with her brother before they both went off to college. The latter still remained true, but she wasn't so thrilled anymore about having to hang around Jackson that she'd told Mark, that as much as she loved him, she just wasn't in the right mentality for something like that. And it wasn't as if he was moving across the country, he was still going to be in Boston, she's see him all the time.

"Lexie? Wait ... How did you -" Mark asked, stopping dead on his tracks, and looking at her in mild shock. April couldn't help but laugh at that. She thought it was quite adorable how Mark actually thought people were naive about his crush on the freshmen. Lexie had transferred to their high school recently and April had to show her around, bringing her around the house once in a while. Mark had been smitten since the first time they'd met but she couldn't understand for the life of her why he never asked Lexie out.

"Everyone knows. Seriously. Like everyone. Well except for Lexie. Whatever. You should really do something about that." April said, finding it highly amusing that her brother was getting flustered.

"Thanks love guru, I'll keep it in mind. Okay, here we are." Mark replied, opening the doors to the locker room and stepping inside.

"Great now GO or we're going to be -" April couldn't finish that's sentence because what she saw in front of her took every ounce of her attention. Standing in the middle of the locker room, looking all kinds of sexy (as always) was Jackson. She wasn't sure what he was doing here exactly, because he was supposed to be at the party. He and Mark had made up or at least they were getting there. April however was still unrelenting. She couldn't forgive him. She wanted to, but it wasn't easy.

"What are you - wait. What? You're supposed to be at the - but you're ... wait. WAIT." April was changing her gaze from Mark to Jackson, confusion running wild through her head, unable to comprehend the situation until it hit her. "YOU PLANNED THIS?"

Mark shrugged and nodded his head. She stared at him, mouth open, unable to understand what his ultimate purpose in this was.

"You refused to speak with him. And I couldn't take his whining anymore. Or the moping. Or the sad puppy dog look. Give him a chance." Mark said, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her around to face a very despondent looking Jackson. He looked beautiful as he always did, but he didn't look like his usually cheerful self. He looked ... miserable at best.

"You HATED the two of us been together and now you're pushing this?!" April said, accusingly. She was on her last nerve with the two men in her life. They were both driving her mad.

"I did. I do. Still. Buuuuttt you two like each other or whatever bla bla sappy stuff. I'm staying out of your business. I'm giving you the choice. BUT I also know you. And I know you want this and you're just being stubborn because we are half Kepner after all. I know you. Go on. I don't have all day. I have people waiting to celebrate how amazing I am. Oh and no kissing. I forbid it." Mark said, walking off in the direction of the coach's office, leaving April alone with Jackson.

She slowly turned around to face him, still fuming from walking straight into a set up. She kind of started to understand how Jackson might have felt that night they broke up. And being reminded of that night just made her madder.

"Hey." Jackson said, shoulders hunched, sporting a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

April simply nodded her head at him, still unable to form clear thought as to what she was feeling at this moment.

"I missed you." He sounded broken, almost desperate and it tugged at her heartstrings. She still loved him, regardless of how pissed she was at him.

"Please." He said, eyes pleading her for something that he didn't specify, because they both knew he didn't have to. She knew what he was asking for. She knew he wanted her to understand him, forgive him, love him and to take him back. He didn't have to say it.

He walked towards her, arms stretched out to hold her. April instinctively stepped back and crossed her arms across her chest, pouting petulantly. She wasn't giving in that easy, no matter how much she had wanted to do in that moment.

"Please." She slapped him. Hard. Across his right cheek. He winced at the contact, the cheek turning slightly red. She gasped, surprised that her body would have such a reaction all on its own, but she couldn't help it. No matter the fact that she knew what he'd said to her wasn't the truth he'd still hurt her. And she hated him for that.

"I HATE YOU. I hate you so much. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you." She yelled so loud, she was sure that Mark wouldn't have to eavesdrop (she was pretty sure he was, what with all habits die hard and all of that) to hear their conversation. "I HATE YOU SO MUCH."

"April ..."

"NO. DO NOT 'APRIL' ME. You hurt me SO much. Do you have ANY idea how MISERABLE I was since that day ? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA how much you hurt me ? I BELIEVED YOU and TRUSTED YOU and you said those HORRIBLE HORRIBLE things and you made me question everything and that SUCKED." She was crying again, which she hated doing, because that's all she seemed to be doing these days. But she had so much pent up anger that she needed to get released. He was silent, letting her yell as much as she wanted, at least having the decency to look guilty. But she wanted a reaction out of him. And his lack of reaction made her even more angry. "YOU WERE A JERK. I felt so ALONE. And I HATE YOU for that. And I hate you the most because I still LOVED YOU through all of that and and ... WHY AREN'T YOU SAYING ANYTHING?"

"I love you." Jackson said, eyes glazed, staring at her as if his life depended on her acceptance of what he said.

April looked at him and gasped in exasperation. She was furious that he thought he could just make everything alright by just telling her he loved her, even though she'd never admit to the fact that she had really needed to hear that.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE FOUGHT FOR US." April said, her chest heaving, adrenaline rushing through her. She hadn't felt this angry in a while.

"I know." Jackson replied, shoulders falling down in defeat.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE ... NOT SAID THOSE AWFUL THINGS TO ME."

"I know."

"YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER MADE ME FEEL THE WAY I FELT."

"I know."

"STOP SAYING THAT." April wondered if his plan was to make her physically maul him, because he was annoying her more than before.

"I love you."

"Sure you do. Because that's what you do when you love someone, you run away ..." April replied, crossing her arms over her chest, eyes focusing on the floor.

"You're right. I was horrible. I was a jerk. I was the worst person in the world and I hurt you. And I hate myself for it. I hate myself more than you'll ever know. I thought I was doing the right thing. I was going to come that day. To your place. After I said those horrible things. I wanted to talk to Mark and tell him that I can't do this anymore. That no, I don't think staying away from you is for your own good. But then I scared that I was been selfish. That I was convincing myself that we need to be together for selfish reasons. Like the fact that

I haven't been able to do anything lately. I don't want to go out, or even get out of bed sometimes. All I want to do is just sit there and think about you and how much I miss you and how much I want to tell you I'm sorry. I just sit there, the whole day, thinking about how much I hurt you and I want to punch myself. And then I think about ... How badly I want to kiss you, or just ... be with you and ... You're not there and I don't want to do anything else so it's been … it's been pretty fucking awful..." Jackson looked back up at her, his eyes never leaving hers, communicating his sincerity through them.

April stood there unable to say anything. For the past weeks she's been hoping he was hurting as much as she was because that would validate what they had. But now that she saw him hurting the way she was, she hated it. She never wanted him to feel that way, it killed her.

"I forgive you." April said after a while, sighing. She saw his face light up, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

He started to move towards her, and she stepped back, holding her hands in front of her, indicating him to stop moving.

"BUT ... I don't know if I want us back." She said, running a hand through her hair.

"What?" Jackson asked, his voice soft, barely a whisper, but the hurt and confusion in it was unmistakable.

"I haven't felt so awful in a really long time, Jackson. It's ... dangerous. To give someone that much power over you. I feel for you so deeply and that's scary. I'm SEVENTEEN. I shouldn't feel this much for someone. And I do. And that's scary. So maybe ... Maybe we're better off ... not together." April replied, shrugging her shoulders, and biting her bottom lip to keep herself from been emotional.

"So ... You're giving up on us because you love me too much? You understand how ridiculous that sounds right?" Jackson asked, the expression on his face turning from one of confusion and hurt to anger.

"No it doesn't! It's not ridiculous. It's makes perfect sense." April argued, narrowing her lips in defiance.

"No it doesn't April. You're giving up on us because it's too hard to love me right? You're blaming me for not fighting for you and you're doing the same thing!" Jackson yelled back, frustration clear in his voice.

"You gave up on us first !" She said, although she cringed hearing how childish that may have sounded.

"And I've never regretted something more in my whole life. Learn from me."

"I can't believe you- I - WHAT IF THIS HAPPENS AGAIN huh ?! What if ... What if you're mother disproves of us? Or or your grandad? You're just going to go along with it and leave me behind and I'll be back at square one, cleaning your mess AGAIN !" It was honestly the thing that worried her the most. She was afraid that if at all she gave him another chance, he'd run away the first instance things got a little complicated. She knew he thought he was doing the right thing, but she was scared at how easily he was convinced as to that fact by Mark. What if his mother didn't like her, granted she'd always had a soft spot for April, treating her with the care of a loved one, but she wasn't sure that necessarily meant she'd want him to be with her. She was just afraid of getting hurt again. She didn't know how she could handle it the second time around.

"You think I'd be STUPID enough to make this same mistake again? Do you not think I learnt from this? I will NEVER let anything or anyone get in between us again. I'm ready to fight April. And ... And I don't care if you're not. Because I'll fight for both of us. Just ... please ..." He held out his hand for her once more, and she finally took it. He tugged on it, pulling her towards him, raising her face to meet his. He was staring intently at her, gaze shifting between her eyes and lips.

"Don't ..." April knew he was going to kiss her and if he did she wouldn't be able to stop. He's also been her Achilles' heel and she knew she'd never be able to resist him if he kissed her. April struggled in his arms, attempting to pull herself away before it was too late, but Jackson was holding on to her with all his strength, wrapping his arms around her body and crushing her body against him, effectively trapping her inside of his arms. So when he finally kissed her, soft and slow, April found herself unable to stop from softly whimpering at the contact she's been craving for a while. He parted her lips softly, slipping his tongue into her mouth, releasing a soft moan from her mouth. Jackson ends the kiss earlier than she would've liked, although she'd never admit it, but rests his forehead against her, eyes closed, his lips still parted, blowing soft air into her skin.

"You know it'll be easier if you just get back together with me now right ? Because I'm going to ask you out every day for as long as it takes for you to say yes. And I mean, that's going to be so annoying, so this is just much easier." Jackson said, a smirk grazing his face.

"What if I say no every time?" April asked, biting her lip to stop herself from grinning. She didn't want him to know her resolve was crumbling by each second that passed.

"You won't," Jackson began, smiling devilishly, catching on to her change in attitude, "because I'll scare off any other boy who'll come on to you and so you'll have no choice but to be with me."

"Oh really?" April said, finally letting herself chuckle. He tightened the grip around her body, pulling her even closer, if that was even possible.

"Yep. Wanna know why ?"

"Why ?"

"Because we ... are mint to be." Jackson said, grinning. April blushed heavily and hid her face in his neck. She smacked him across the chest, reprimanding him for bringing her mints up. She'd told him about how she wanted to get married in a field, with butterflies and mints that, as corny as it was, said "mint to be." She didn't think he was really paying attention to what she'd been saying, but she internally rejoiced at the fact that he had. He never dismissed her ramblings.

"Don't know. Might want to marry someone else." April said, teasingly shrugging her shoulders.

"Um that would be a really bad idea because I'd just get up and confess my love in front of aaallll those people and I KNOW you HATE stuff like that, so I think it'll be much easier if you just date me now so we can avoid all that." He replied, brushing his nose against her, and dropping a kiss to her cheek.

"I'd kill you if you do that !" April laughed, blushing at the contact.

"Yeah but only after you run to me." He replied, squeezing her butt, getting a loud squeal out of her.

"Take me back ?" He asked, staring at her, his sudden ease vanishing away, replaced by a more serious expression.

"Okay," April replied, but moved her head back before he could kiss her,"BUT if you hurt me again I swear I will -"

He interrupted her with a rough kiss, much different to his earlier one, lifting her off the ground. As she kissed him bad with just as much vigor, April realised that she was fooling herself if she'd actually thought she could stay away from him. She knew he didn't mean the things he said, and as much as him not fighting for her had hurt her, she couldn't hold it against him forever. She had been at fault and so had he. And as scared as she was about been hurt again, she realised that even if it wasn't Jackson, someone would hurt her. And she couldn't control that. She could, however, control who would hurt her. And only Jackson would ever be worth the risk.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT NOT KISSING MY SISTER ! TIME OUT TIME OUT ! BREAK IT UP ! STOP KISSING !" Mark yelled, as April suddenly felt herself been pulled away by him. She giggled aloud at the look on his face, clearly uncomfortable by what he walked in on, but also happy that they'd made up. She laughed at the irony, considering how he was the major reason of their breakup in the first place.

Jackson looked at her, embarrassed, running his hand over his head, chuckling along.

"Sorry." They both said, sheepishly although it was pretty evident that neither of them were sorry about defying Mark's orders.

"Geez ... I'm starting to wonder if this was a bad idea. Maybe I should've left you both to mope like sad puppies. Okay Okay, let's go. My party awaits me. Come on." Mark said, pushing the couple out of the locker room.

Jackson slowly took April's hand into his and threaded his fingers through hers, bringing her hand to his lips.

"What ?" April said, grinning like an idiot, slightly curious as to the distant look on his face.

"Can't believe I got so lucky." He said, returning her grin.

"Well from what I know, you haven't got lucky ... Yet." April said, winking at Jackson, and laughing when she saw the shock on his face as he realised what she was hinting at.

He growled softly and nipped at her earlobe, eliciting a high pitched squeal from April, followed by a giggle.

"I SAW THAT." Mark yelled from behind them. They laughed loudly as they exited the school, hand in hand, ready for a celebration.

* * *

 **THANK YOU FOR READING !**

 **P.s : To the guest reviewer who said they were confused about the time jump in the first part of the fic - so it is about 2 weeks from the time they were in the closet to the time they were in her bedroom. Sorry for the confusion !**

 **p.p.s : Thank you to LeandraDeRaven for checking up on me and motivating me to get over my writer's block - hope you liked this !**

 **ALSO : If you have any prompts please leave them behind in the comments below OR hit me up on my tumblr account "astoldbyacertifiedunicorn" :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I wrote this after watching the new sneak peek and I needed to convince myself to not start shipping April with herself lol So I was just scrolling through google for prompt ideas and this just seemed so cute.**

 **I hope you enjoy this really small fic :)**

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters as they are property of Shonda Rhimes and Grey's Anatomy

* * *

 _Prompt : OTP playing a board game. Person A is upset because they have lost so many times. Person B promises to kiss them if A wins the next round._

 **Game On**

Jackson wasn't the most competitive person in the world, but his ego didn't allow him to feel okay about his current losing streak. As someone who has gone most of their lives unchallenged by the women he was with, the experiences he gained with his new wife was … well, new. She challenged him at every point, called him out on his bullshit and apparently was not one for taking it easy just to appease his ego. She was fiercely competitive so it doesn't make much sense why he would've expected any different. So, here he was playing yet another game of scrabble, the third one for the night, with his wife so close to gaining yet another 100 points allowing her to once more take the win.

"AHA ! Loquacious. Triple word score … so that means, 82, 83 … 95, 98 ... 102 ! I got 102 ! HA ! Beat you … again !" She yelled, punching her fists in the air in triumph.

He momentarily took his attention away from pouting to think of how cute she looked when she won. It was almost enough to make losing worth it … almost.

"What the hell does loquacious mean anyway ?" He asked, huffing in annoyance, childishly pushing the tiles on his rack way from him.

"It means … talkative." She replied, grinning at him in amusement.

"Kinda like you, then." He replied, although frowning, his tone was clearly playful.

"Er, you're the one to talk Mr. I-Told-About-Our-Baby-To-My-Ex-Eventhough-I-Asked-My-Wife-To-Not-Tell-Anyone. You're such a talky tina." She jabbed, collecting the tiles and putting them back into the bag.

"Um, excuse me, you told Callie !" He argued, helping her collect the tiles.

"I had to ! Otherwise it would've been bad for the baby. I already told you this." She says, getting up to fetch herself a glass of sparkling water, since she was off of alcohol since finding out about their pregnancy.

"Fine, whatever. I had to tell her too." He says, taking a sip from her glass once she sat back down. He'd agreed to lay off whatever she had to lay off during the pregnancy to make it easier on her. It was the least he could do.

"Mhm, sure. Anyway, I beat you ! I beat you ! I beat you !" She sang, taunting him on purpose.

"No, unacceptable. Rematch." He asks, taking the tile bag and shaking it before extracting a few tiles from it.

"This was a rematch, but fine, I can go all day, sore loser." She said, taking the bag from him.

"Oh I know you can." He replied, the glint in his eyes telling her that there was a sure innuendo behind it.

"Oh shush ! You're so ridiculous, I swear." She said, leaning forward to smack him across the chest.

He held on to her arm, pulling her closer, and leaning in to kiss her. However, instead of feeling her lips, he instead felt the soft skin of her palm.

"No kisses." She replied, wrangling her arm out of his and sitting back down.

"No kisses ?"

"Nope. No kisses … until you beat me," She replies, a mischievous smile taking over her features, "If you beat me, you can have all the kisses … anywhere."

"Anywhere ?" He asks her gulping and feeling the blood starting to rush south. He knew what she was hinting at.

"Yep, anywhere. If you lose, no kisses and you have to start painting the nursery."

He smiled internally. He had anyway been planning on starting painting the nursery since they both had the weekend off.

"You got yourself a deal, Mrs. Avery." He said, focusing intensely on his letter.

"It's Doctor Kepner." She corrected him

"Not to me, babe," He wasn't the biggest fan of her refusing to take his name, "Prepare to lose."

"I'm sure I will." She replied, rolling her eyes.

* * *

"Hiya, pouty baby. You know, you're acting like more of a baby than our little nugget." April walked in their bedroom, which Jackson had resigned to after losing the second rematch.

"Leave me alone, April." He mumbled into the pillow.

He felt the bed shift with April getting on top of it, felt her reach out of him, pulling herself towards him and wrapping herself around him. He placed an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to his body if that was even possible.

"I love you, even when you can't admit I'm better at everything else than you are." She said, running her hand across his bare back.

"I do admit you're better at everything than I am … doesn't mean I have to like it."

She giggled into his chest, causing his heart to swell up, because this incredible, amazing, gorgeous woman was _his_. She was _his_ wife. The mother of _his_ child. He had no idea how he got so lucky.

"I'm more mad that I don't get the kisses." He admitted.

"Hm, well, you know … there was an exception to the rule." She replied, untangling herself from him, and straddling his lap.

"Oh really ? Do tell." He replied, running a hand up her back and tangling it in her curls.

"Well, if you only lost by 12 points, then you still get the kisses." She replied, placing her lips on his neck, her tongue darting out to lick his skin.

"How convenient." He smirked.

She shrugged, pulling her dress up and discarding it, leaving her in nothing but a pair of lilac panties.

"But, you did win so it's only fair you get the kisses first." He said, gently disposing her on to back, his lips softly kissing the area around her bellybutton. It made him feel some type of way, knowing she was carrying their baby.

"But you ... you still have to paint the nur-" She started, her breath already labored.

"I will, promise. Besides, I know one game I'm really good at." He said, lifting her legs to place it on his shoulders.

* * *

 **THANK YOU FOR READING !**

I know this a lot shorter than my other fics but I hope you still liked it nonetheless :)


	6. Chapter 6

_**Prompt : Season 12 Prompt: april and jackson find out on ultrasound that harriet is a girl?**_

Thank you lovely readers for all your wonderful reviews on the last fic. It really made me happy that you enjoyed and it eased some of your japril woes :) Hope you enjoy this one :)

 _Disclaimer : I do not own the characters, they are property of Grey's Anatomy and Shonda Rhimes_

* * *

 **Ready?**

"Do you have a preference ?"

Alive, he wanted to say. His preference is that whatever the baby would be, he or she would be alive. They would be healthy and they wouldn't die 2 hours after they were born. That's all he wanted. That was his preference. But he couldn't possibly say that. The last thing he wanted was to remind April of the last time they were pregnant and he didn't want the resident Arizona had left them with to take the scan to think that he was being intentionally sadistic. But he looked over at April and saw the way she was looking back at him and realised that she was thinking the same thing, that neither of them cared even a little bit for this baby's gender as long as they would have a baby to take home this time. It broke his heart, because she was happy, she was excited for this baby and there was a glow in her eyes whenever their baby popped up on the screen, but that underlying sadness and fear never goes away. It looms beneath her excitement and stops her from fully allowing herself to accept this baby. He knew part of her was prepared for there to not be a baby at the end of this, because they knew the most disappointing, bleak truth about pregnancy; there wasn't always going to be a baby.

"We really don't care as long as he's healthy." He hears her say, voice breaking towards the end.

He wants to take her hand so that she knows he's here with her but he promised himself that with the divorce he let go all of his privileges to have physical contact with her no matter how badly he wanted to sometimes. There would be days when he'd notice a stray curl that he wanted to run his finger through, when he saw her flushed cheeks and wanted to run his thumb across her skin or when she'd wear a tank top, stretching it across her ever growing bump and he would want to touch her stomach, feel their baby grow and maybe even kick, without been asked to. But he couldn't. He signed off his privileges when he signed that stupid piece of paper. There are times when he regrets it and if he's really honest he regrets it all the time. He reminds himself that he was trapped and he needed to get out but every day that excuse becomes weaker and he realises he's just kidding himself because he's never felt more trapped than he did right now.

"Alright then, let's get started."

He watches the resident slathers the gel over her bump, placing the probe on her skin and running it over the bump, immediately popping their little baby into the screen. He has done this before, but it never fails to put him in a state of complete awe that the image on the screen was of the child he and April made together. He looks on, patiently awaiting the the verdict, enchanted by the way they moved inside the womb.

"Let's see here, if only this one would move a little bit mo- Oh wait ! There we go. It's ... It's a baby girl ! Congratulations !" She said, smiling widely at the two of them.

Oh shit, he thought. A girl. A baby girl. He had no idea how to raise a baby girl. A boy, sure. He knew how to raise a boy. But a girl was a whole other ball game. He thought, back when him and April were pregnant with Samuel and in their blissful ignorance talking about more children, that he would have the chance to raise a son first before he raised a daughter, so that he would tackle the difficulty of raising a baby before he would be confronted by the added hardness of raising a daughter. He has to raise her right, raise her to be a strong, independent woman in a world plagued by patriarchy and discrimination. What if he failed ? What if he failed her ? What if he couldn't love her enough, or protect her enough ? What if he disappointed her ?

"We're having a girl." April whispered, tears starting to form on her eyes.

He looks at her, and realises that the warm feeling in his heart wasn't just because of how happy she looked but because, he glanced down at his lap and realised, she had taken his hand, intertwining their fingers together. He hadn't held her in a while and the feeling was overwhelming. He smiled at her, squeezing her hand and it hit him. He wasn't raising this baby alone. He had her. He had April. She would help him. She was born to be a mother, an absolute natural at it, and she knew exactly how to raise a little girl. She would be with him, beside him, helping him along, making sure that even if he takes a stumble, their baby girl will be alright.

"I want her to be exactly like you." He says, his heart speaking before his mind can catch up. He sees her looking back at him in a bit of a shock because he knew she didn't expect such an endearing statement from him, but now that he put it out there he doesn't want to take it back. It's true, he does want his baby to be like her, good, kind, loving, humble, intelligent and strong. And of course, it wouldn't hurt if she had her hazel eyes and dimples, her soft skin and those freckles that run across her nose and collarbone. He would have no complaints having her take after the most beautiful woman he knew.

"But I want her to have your eyes." She insists, gazing deeply into his. He knows she's always had a preference for them, letting him know that they've always been an aphrodisiac.

"Yours are prettier." He replies, smiling at her, and watches her blush. "And with your dimples."

He knows he hasn't complimented her in a while, and so this whole thing is awkward and uncomfortable and he can't help but hate himself for that.

"Fine, but she is going to have your curls. No arguing with me on this one !" She teases, grinning at him and he marvels in the fact that he hasn't seen this smile from her, genuine, full and lively, in a long time.

"Aright, I'll let you have that one." He laughs, noticing how their fingers were still clasped together.

"She's going to perfect either way," She says, gazing wistfully at the screen, "because she ours."

He smiles at that. She's ours. He loves the sound of that. Their baby. Another baby. If anything was a miracle, this has to be it. This baby was a miracle, because it came to them at a time they needed it the most.

"Yes she is."

He looks at her then, and he sees the regret in her face too. The want to be closer, to experience this together, with each other instead of individually. This is what their choices has led them to. He sees the regret in her eyes and wonders if she sees the same in his.

He wants to tell her he's sorry, because maybe that'll make a difference, maybe it will change them. He isn't sure.

"April, I-"

"Hope that was enough time you got to spend with your baby, Doctors."

Jackson gets interrupted by the resident, whom he never noticed walk out of the room in the first place. He both hates the fact that he got interrupted and is relieved because he's not sure if he was ready to have that conversation yet, especially when they were both so happy, and because he wasn't sure she'll say sorry back.

"Yes it was." April replies, although it takes a while for her eyes to leave his. "Can we have a sonogram ?"

"Sure thing. How many ?"

"Just one." He says.

"Two," April replies, staring at him in confusion, until he remembers that they don't live together anymore and so they can't do with just one sonogram that they'll put up in their fridge, "We'll need two."

The resident causally nods, not understanding the depth of the moment that had just passed, not understanding what it meant to Jackson that he forgot that they now needed two pictures for their separate apartments, separate lives. Like the two nurseries, the two cribs, the two rocking chairs and the two houses where their baby will grow up to call home.

He takes the picture handed to me and stuffs it in his pocket, suddenly finding it hard to look at it.

"Ready ?" She asks him, getting down from the bed and grabbing her bag.

He knew she meant 'ready to go', but he couldn't help but wonder at the other meaning of those words. Was he ready ? Ready for what ? Raising a baby ? Sure. With April's help, of course. Ready to accept the fact that the divorce ruined the chances of him having a perfect family under one roof ? He didn't think he'd ever be ready to accept that.

* * *

 **THANK YOU FOR READING !**

Please leave a review behind and let me know if you liked this. I don't write things too angsty so I hope this wasn't too bad.

Also - I'm taking in prompts for one shots - canon or AU based - and preferably fluff ! SEND THEM MY WAY. PM me or leave behind a comment or send me an ask on tumblr. My username is 'astoldbyacertifiedunicorn' :)


	7. Chapter 7

**_Prompt : Hiya ! Please do a one shot where japril are dating in season 7 and jackson thinks april is cheating on him with Stark Lol that might sound weird but I want jealous jackson !_**

 **Hello, anon. I am so sorry I lost your ask (I tried to answer you back and then my internet went haywire, and you didn't get a reply and I don't have your ask in the inbox either) *sigh* I hope you see this though !**

 **Thought I would send a one shot your way since there's no Grey's tonight ! Thank you all for you wonderful reviews. Means a lot to me that you enjoyed the last one shot. :)**

 **Disclaimer : All characters belong to Grey's Anatomy and Shonda Rhimes**

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He had been waiting for her to come home for about 3 hours that night. His shift had ended an hour before hers and when asked if he should wait for her, she had said no and insisted on taking a cab home. She'd asked him to get going and maybe start dinner if he could, but this was 5 hours ago and she was still not home. It was 11 in the night and there was absolutely no sign of April. She'd left the hospital 3 hours ago, as he'd found out by calling a nurse, and had sent him a message about 2 hours ago telling him that she'd run into one of her sorority sisters and had decided to have dinner with her. If the past 2 weeks hadn't been bearing down in his mind he may have even believed her, but the thing was the last 14 days had happened and what had started out as a joke in his mind had turned into a full blown conviction that was slowly eating him up and driving him crazy.

She was cheating on him. April Kepner was cheating on him with another man. Dr. Stark to be precise. It had seemed ridiculous at the beginning, he'd laughed at himself for even coming up with that possibility, knowing there was no chance in hell that was ever going to happen. Dr. Stark was a mean, old, unkind person who was the exact opposite of all the wonderful things his girlfriend was.

The suspicion had begun fleetingly, she'd come home later than should be the case considering he was very aware how long it would take to make the journey from their house to the hospital, or she would escort Lexie to the mall and when he'd asked whether they had fun together, he was met with two stuttering faces, clearly unable to hold a lie. She had canceled 3 dates in 2 weeks, casually dismissing it, an action most unlike April Kepner who hated missing out on their dates. He had refused to believe the little doubts that would eventually spring to his mind, kept them at the back burner, refusing to give them a voice. But then he'd caught her lying to him about where she was more times than one and he had walked in on her having a hushed conversation with a voice that clearly belonged to man and had lied to him saying it was her sister Alice.

He had begun to worry, raked his brain to think of who this mystery man could be, but constantly failing to come up with ideas until ... his attention had gone to Dr. Stark. It was the way she'd talk about him, positively, happily. A sentiment most people didn't share about him. Sometimes he'd see them together, a friendly touch of the shoulder, the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed at one of his mundane jokes and the sudden peak of interest in peds after having convinced herself neuro was her specialty. The thing that was the last straw was that the nurse he'd called had informed him of having seen her leave the hospital with Stark tonight. He was sure of it now. The thing about jealousy is that it fosters irrationality and Jackson was convinced, albeit he was stepping on thin ice, that the love of his life didn't feel the same way about him that he did about her. Maybe she wanted an older man, although he'd never pegged her as wanting a man that old, or maybe it was the whole attending fantasy that almost every woman in Seattle Grace was obsessed with. Regardless, he was convinced he was right and that night he had resolved to let his frustrations out.

He heard the front door opening, noting the time on the clock to be 11.30 pm, the house eerily quiet on account of that fact that only him and Alex were not on call that night.

"Jackson ? You haven't gone to bed yet ? Did you wait up for me ? Baby, I told you you didn't have to." April said, walking towards the couch, setting down what looked to be desert from their favorite Italian place. He was even more furious with her now. Not only had she taken Stark to their place but she'd also had the audacity to bring him desert as if this was the most casual thing in the world for her.

He didn't say anything, opting let his anger boil down before he said something he'd later regret. She plopped down on the couch next to him, tossing her feet over his, scooting closer to him and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. He'd almost broken down at that, because that right there was the hardest thing. How much he loved her. He was head over ass in love with this woman that a simple cheek kiss was enough to send his heart into disarray. He couldn't lose her, he didn't know how he'd go on if he did, so this was torture.

"What did you do today? Amy was such a hoot. She's a mom of 3 now and that is so crazy because she was such a party girl back in college and now she's settled down and-" He cut her off mid-sentence, standing up, carefully tossing her legs aside, letting out a rather loud sarcastic snort.

"Yeah no I'm sure _Amy_ was a hoot." He said, his voice seething with sarcasm, a particular emphasis placed on the name.

April looked back at him confused, "What ?"

"You know I don't know how you do it. Lie like that. So ... so fucking easy. Like it's nothing. Like what you're doing to me means nothing to you." His voice was louder now, having allowed his anger to boil over.

"Lie to you ? Jackson, what are you talking-" He hated how she was able to sound so genuinely confused.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about April. Don't play fucking dumb with me." His replied, his tone harsher than he intended it to be.

"NO. No I don't know what you're talking about. Why are you being so mean, Jack-"

"YOU'RE CHEATING ON ME." He yelled, blind with rage. He'd thought she'd at least feel guilty enough to come clean without him having to point it out.

"What ?"

He took note of the shock on her face and backtracked for a second. Was she actually surprised ? Could it be that he'd been overreacting this entire time ? She looked livid once the realization of the accusation had set within her.

"You think I'm ... cheating ... on you ? Are you freaking kidding me ?" She replied, her face no longer one of of surprise but rather of blind rage. Something he knew very well about.

Although it may have seen obvious at that moment that the whole thing was an extreme overreaction on his part, he was so convinced he was right. He had begun to open his mouth to protest when she interrupted him.

"I can't believe you'd even think that, let alone actually allow yourself to believe it. Wha- what the hell made you come to this conclusion ?"

"Well, let's see ... you weren't at work that night you told me you had to stay late - and yes, I called and asked. So don't even try to deny it. Also, you keep making all these secret calls, that you immediately cut off whenever I walk into the room and I heard a male voice, April. I know for a fact it was a man. You know, the same man you're clocking in so many hours with in peds. Strange isn't it, how you were so sure about neuro and all of a sudden Stark comes in and you're just dying to be a peds surgeon."

"STARK ? Stark is the person you think I'm cheating on you with. You think I'm cheating on with our very much older attending who is old enough to be my father ? Really ? I can't believe-"

"Fine ! Then explain all the secrecy ? The sudden interest ? The whole thing with you leaving the hospital with him ? Hm ?"

"How do you even know about that ?" She asked, eyes wide, throwing her hands around hysterically.

"Whatever, April, I don't need this." He didn't want to sound like the crazy boyfriend keeping tabs on her by admitting he called a nurse to find out her whereabouts. It seemed a little over the top now when he thought about it.

"Oh no ! We are going to talk about this. I don't know how you even know that, but, whatever, that's not the point. Your source, whoever that maybe, only saw me leaving the hospital with him. He asked to give me a ride home, I declined and took a cab. Why ? Because he hit on me yesterday-"

His face suddenly lit up in a mixture of anger and epiphany. He knew it now. He was interested in April and she in him.

"Oh don't you dare ! Yes he hit on me and you know what I did ? I said, no thank you Dr. Stark, I have an amazing boyfriend at home whom I love very much and would never consider leaving, let alone cheating on."

"I-" He wasn't sure whether to believe her but the fury in her eyes was beginning to tell him that if she was lying about anything, it certainly wasn't how mad she was with him right now, because she was pissed.

"If I accused you of cheating with every woman who hit on you, then we wouldn't be in a relationship ever !" She pointed out, challenging him to disagree. She was right about that, he thought. April didn't like the girls who flirted with him, but she always trusted him to stay faithful to her. He felt awful. He hadn't returned her trust, even though if anyone deserved to have it, it was her.

"You know, I hate you so much right now." She said, wiping at a tear that had fallen down, making him feel more like a jerk by the second. She stomped away, walking into Lexie's bedroom, where he heard her shuffling through the closet. A couple of minutes later, she walked back to the living room carrying something with her.

"Here." She threw him a large black shopping bag that had the words 'geekdom' written on it. He was sure he'd seen the bag before, when it hit him that it was the bags they gave away at the comic book store at their mall, "That ... that is the reason why I'm being accused of doing something I would never dream of doing."

He was curious to say the least, and slowly opened the bag, pulling out its contents.

"Wait, is this ... is this the-"

"Princess Leia slave outfit ? The centerpiece of every teenage boys' sexist wet dream." She said, crossing her hands in front of her chest and rolling her eyes at him, "So yep, good job Jackson. While you were coming up this inane idea of me cheating on you, without so much as asking me if your crazy suspicions were true, I was trying to fulfill this stupid fantasy of yours for your birthday."

"April-"

"I went to the mall with Lexie so I could ask Gerald at the comic store if he knew anyone who could get me a costume because the costume store was no help. The reason I had secret calls with a man was because Gerald promised me he'd call me if he found a costume. I cancelled our date last night because I had to go pick it up … and yes I lied to you, I'm sorry I had no idea how else to keep this whole thing a secret. So I picked it up, and I hid it in Lexie's room. I even let myself get teased to death by her to keep this a secret so I could surprise you. And tonight ... I actually went out with Amy. I wasn't out with ... Dr. Stark ! I spend more time in peds now because I like it, I like the specialty. I like working with babies. I'm trying it out. Like you ... with plastics. You don't see me asking you if you're cheating on me with Sloan !"

"Well, that's because-"

"Oh stop, you two redefine the term bromance. Just, not the point ! The point is ... I wanted to do something nice for you, because I love you and this is what happens."

"April, I ... Babe, I'm so-"

"Sorry. Yeah I know. That's great. I'm so happy you're sorry that you accused me of cheating on you ... WITH STARK ! I'm just- I'm going to bed, you can sleep on the couch tonight." She was now completely in tears, her words muffled because she was constantly rubbing her eyes to keep her tears at bay, although any such effort was in vain.

"Sweetheart, come on, I was just scared. I know I freaked out and that was so so stupid, but-" He reached out to her, but wasn't entirely surprised when she smacked his hand away, stepping further away from him.

"Stop. Just ... stop. Leave me alone. Goodnight, Jackson."

He'd lain awake that night, banished to the couch, wondering how stupid he could be. In his haze to not have April leave him, he'd done the exact opposite of what he should've done in that situation. His own stupid insecurities of abandonment and his lack of work to ensure strong communication in his relationship had ended up been what had actually pushed her away. He hated himself. She was probably crying herself to sleep, and it was completely his fault. All she had wanted to do was make him happy, step way out of her comfort zone for his benefit and he'd ruined it. He wasn't just going to sit here and wait and let this ruin them.

He walked up to their bedroom door, turning the knob and not surprisingly found it locked. He sighed, pushing his forehead against the door, and started to knock incessantly. She refused to come to the door, although he knew it had woken her up because she was a light sleeper and Alex had come out of his room threatening to cut his balls off.

"April," He said, "I know you're awake. I was ... I was an idiot. A complete and total idiot. I mean, I was just so scared you'd leave me that ... I overreacted. I'm an idiot. The thing is … well the thing is ... You're incredible, right ? So I wouldn't be surprised if you went looking for something better- and before you say it, yes you can do better. You're gorgeous, smart and one of the nicest people I know so ... yes you can do better than me. So that scares me sometimes, you know."

He wanted to tell her that he was used to getting left behind for something better, like his father did but he wasn't about to use that card with her. It was emotionally manipulative and he would just feel worse right after he said it.

"I hope you forgive me but even if you decide to leave, which I really hope you don't, I just want you to know I'm sorry ... And for what it's worth, you would've looked sexy as hell in that costume."

He sighed, waited a couple of minutes and realised she wasn't coming to the door. He really wanted to kick the door down, but since that would just ensure April would never so much as look at him again, let alone just dump him, he decided to head back to the couch. Just as he'd turned around, he heard the doorknob turning. He turned back around to face the door and came face to face with April, stood outside the door wearing his Harvard Tshirt and a pair of red panties.

"I'm not going to leave you, you dummy. Jeez, what made you think that ? We're fighting, we are having a fight, because you accused me of doing something awful-"

"Something I am so sorry abo-" He saw her death glare and backed off, "sorry, continue."

"Without any real basis, so I'm hurt ... and pissed off. And so we're fighting, and you're going to sleep on the couch tonight, because you're in the dog house. And tomorrow, you're going to buy me flowers, and cupcakes from SugarCup and apologise the whole day and promise me you're never going to ever even have a fleeting thought about me cheating on you ever again. Then you're going to take a picture with me wearing those Mickey ears I got you that you refused to wear for Halloween, so I can wear my Minnie ones. You're going to let me upload that picture on Facebook, for your mother, who I'm going to add back, to see. Understood ?" She said, eyebrows raised, one foot tapping on the floor, waiting for an answer.

She could have asked him to bathe with electric eels at this point and he'd have said yes, "Yes. Yes. Of course."

"Good. Now ... I have to go in early tomorrow, so I'm going back to sleep. Is that all ?"

He look abashedly at the floor, and back up at her again, his cheeks flushing in a rare blush. There was one more thing he could do to make sure they were fine.

"Will you still put on the costume?"

"Goodnight, Jackson."

He huffed in frustration, but made his way across the hallway to the living room, before stopping in his tracks at the sound of April's voice, "I bought it for your birthday. I have a feeling I'll have forgiven you by that time."

She added a wink at the end, smiling ruefully, causing his face to break out into a state of almost child like glee. They were fine. He got lucky, though, he knew that much. She wasn't going to forgive him again and he wasn't going to be another idiot and risk losing her once more.

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 **THANK YOU FOR READING !**

Hope it wasn't too bad. I liked this prompt because I think Jackson has his own insecurities as well, just like April has hers. Please leave behind a review letting me know what you think :)


	8. Chapter 8

_**Prompt : Please do one of a college party meet-cute AU.**_

 **Thank you all so much for your kind reviews on my last fic. I'm so happy you liked it. I've been in the AU vibe lately so please enjoy this new one shot. I hope you enjoy this one. :)**

 **Disclaimer : The characters are property of Shonda Rhimes and Grey's Anatomy**

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 **Ice cream Party**

"Just have fun, please."

April groaned loudly, protesting to her best friend Lexie's plea. She did not want to have fun. She had planned for a quiet night in their dorm room, celebrating the end of their exams with ice cream and The Breakfast Club and instead she had been dragged to some random party by a very insistent Lexie who wanted to simultaneously spend time with her new boyfriend, Mark and force the wallflower tendencies out of April. Although, she really liked Mark and had instantly approved of him, and so was happy her best friend was getting the chance to spend time with him after been holed up in their room because of their 1st year exams, she wasn't one bit happy with this and had protested the whole way here and was continuing her complaints to an extremely irritated Lexie. The house they were in was by far the most beautiful home she has been to; being that it was more a mansion than a house. But the excitement of being in the house was short lived once she stepped inside the place and realised that although the inside was just as magnificent as the outside, today it was host to a college party, something her introvert self immensely disliked. The music all sounded exactly the same, track after track of bubblegum pop and was played far too loudly for it to be enjoyable, there were couples shamelessly hooking up in every surface of the house and she had been greeted by a girl throwing up in the impeccably groomed front bushes.

"I don't want to. I would have had fun if you had just left me in our room. This … is a nightmare" She pointed out, slightly cringing when she witnessed a jock being cheered on to take off his briefs.

"Okay, fine, so that's not very pleasant, but if you just stopped being such a debby downer, you could probably have more fun than you'd think you would. Please, for me, just go … interact with people who aren't me, my boyfriend or the librarian." She joked, taking hold her hand and leading her towards a table fully stocked with every type of alcohol imaginable.

"For your information, is a really sweet lady. I've been to her place for lunch and I met her husband and she showed me pictures of all her nieces and-" April stopped midsentence, realising Lexie was looking at her weird, "What ?"

"April … Your only other friend in college is a 60 year old woman who invites you to lunch and talks about her grandchildren. You don't find that even a little pathetic." Lexie asked, pouring herself a cup of punch and offering one to April.

"No I do not. You're mean, by the way. I like your boyfriend more than you." April said, refusing the punch and instead grabbing herself a can of coke.

"I'm not mean, I love you and I don't want your fondest memory of college to revolve around a cat lady." Lexie remarked.

"She is not a- you know what ? I am here, I am not going to have fun, you should just go and do whatever you want so we can go home." April said, taking a sip from her drink and resigning herself to the fact that she wasn't getting out of this situation.

"Ergh, fine. Be like that. I will text you when I'm ready to leave." Lexie replied, rolling her eyes at April's stubbornness, "If someone does talk to you though, please converse with them … about normal things, that normal people would know about."

It was April's turn to roll her eyes at the jab her best friend had taken regarding her nerdy habits.

"Okay fine, just go, so we can leave." April said, pushing her friend towards the direction where she had just spotted Mark.

"Thank you for being open minded about this and giving it a shot." Lexie replied sarcastically, waving at her and walking towards her other half.

April watched them hug and watched her friend being dragged off towards the other end of the room, before she started navigating her way across the floor, combatting the hordes of people dancing in their alcohol induced state and couples gyrating on each other, and finally made her way to an empty couch where she figured she'd crash the rest of the night. She felt strange just sitting there and staring at the enthusiastic party goers but Lexie had forbidden her to take a book so she had no other choice but to admire the expensive rug in front of her and ward off very drunk guys who tried hitting on her.

She eventually felt the need to use the bathroom, and walked around the room looking for one. She did end up finding one, in which two teenagers were very busy getting handsy on the bath. Feeling a little more than slightly irked, she decided to try her luck upstairs and realised that the house was so large that she was only in one wing of the house.

Although it felt like she was kind of trespassing in someone else's house, she walked across the long hallway, away from the noise and hormones and walked into a much quieter and completely uninhabited part of the house, where she began searching for a bathroom and this time, luck would have it, found one which did not make her feel like throwing up the moment she opened the door on the basis that it was unoccupied.

She knew that having used the facilities, she should return to the party but was reveling in the quiet peace this part of the house provided too much to want to go back. She decided that she would just walk around and if anyone caught her, she'd tell them she was looking for a vacant bathroom and had gotten lost.

She walked across the hallway, admiring the beautiful paintings hanging on the walls and tasteful décor, when she stopped in front of a room of which the door was slightly ajar, and the sounds of Vivaldi's Four Seasons making its way out of the opened door. She peeked in slightly, curious to see which occupant in this house would enjoy the kind of music she found enjoyable. She saw a lone figure inside the room, a boy, well-built and quite tall, with mocha skin, standing in front of what appeared to be a turntable. She was so enchanted by the record player, having never met anyone who owned one before. It was too expensive for her family and so she had never had the opportunity to hear her music played over the wonderful uniqueness a turntable gave to the records it played.

She may have been too caught up in the moment because all of a sudden she felt her weight drop to the door, and saw it creak open, causing the occupant of the room to quickly look up and catch her in the act.

She wasn't too sure what to do at this point, because running down the hall at lightning speed wasn't really an option, so she thought it would be best to follow through with her more logically formulated plan.

"Oh, uh- I … I um, I got lost … I just … I had to pee and," She quickly shifted her gaze to the floor, mortified that she'd told this stranger that completely unnecessary piece of information, "So yeah, just lost, got lost. I got lost."

She carefully looked up to see the gorgeous stranger look back at her in complete amusement. He thinks I'm insane, April thought, feeling even worse because he really was one of the most beautiful looking people she had ever seen and to top it all off, he appears to appreciate the beauty of classical music.

"You wandered away from the party, correct?" He asked her, stepping closer to the door.

"Um yes, I did. Look, I'm sorry I uh-"

"Hey, no that's alright. I get it, it's a pretty big house, even I get lost sometimes and I've lived here my whole life."

He smiles at her in good nature and she lets out the breath she's been holding because she doesn't seem to be in trouble, but quickly loses control of her breathing when she peers up at him and notices that he has the most exquisite blue eyes, with specks of green and grey thrown randomly.

"Want me to show you the way back ?" He asks, stepping out of his room, standing right in front of her.

She nervously drags her sweater down and bites her bottom lip because she's never been this close to someone she's found this attractive and it's making her extremely self-conscious.

"Like I have a choice." She says in her head, although she's unaware that she'd shared that sentiment out loud.

"I'm guessing you were brought here unwillingly huh ?" He asks, and she realises that she's shared her inner musings with him, albeit unknowingly.

"Um, yeah. My best friend thinks that I should get out more because, well, I tend to be quite … anti-social. Honestly, I just wanted to stay in my room, eating ice cream and watching The Breakfast Club." She answers and she wonders why she feels both extremely nervous and completely comfortable in his presence.

"Now that sounds like a great way to spend the night. You know, you do have a choice. I mean, I own The Breakfast Club on Blu-Ray. I also, happened to have a mini fridge stacked with Magnum bars and ice pops that I am more than willing to share." He says, stepping out of the way and pointing to his room.

She isn't really sure what to say because stranger danger isn't really a lesson she took lightly and she did only meet him 5 minutes ago. But there was something, a pull, she thought, that made her normally shy, reserved and unable to connect in social situations self, want to accept his invitation.

"I promise I don't bite." He smirks at her, and she shyly smiles back at him because it had been that obvious that that was what she had been thinking and he also happened to have such a lovely smile.

"Okay." She replies, and follows him inside the room.

His room alone is bigger than 5 of their dorms put together, but strikingly different from the rest of the house. It was like any other, 20 something year old boys room, posters of basketball players, and an impressive amount of trophies, with a bed April was convinced was made for 10 people and one of those TVs she'd only ever seen in MTV cribs. But despite all the luxury, she liked the fact that half of the room was strewn around with a variety of textbooks and fiction stories, some of which she recognised as her personal favourites. She peeked in the title of a textbook realising it was one she used in her own course.

"You're in pre-med ?" She asked.

"Hm ? Oh yeah. I study pre-med at Harvard. You ?"

"I study pre-med at Yale."

"Oh then we should kind of hate each other, huh ?" He teased, pointing to their age-old university rivalry.

"Who's to say I don't hate you now that I know you go to the lamest school known to man ?" She teased back, genuinely surprised at her ability to joke around with him, a trait she only ever developed after months of interaction.

"Ouch, that hit me right there," He jokes, putting a hand over his heart, dramatically making a pained expression.

She laughs at his silliness, "I'm just kidding, I like you."

"Oh really ?" He asked, the grin obvious in his voice.

She backtracked having just realised what had come out of her mouth.

"I- uh- not like that. I mean- I meant, I like you like you like someone you don't hate. Not like … I like like you, I mean that would be weird … we just met so you know just … like-" She stopped herself noticing how she had yet again begun to ramble, embarrassingly so, once again making a fool of herself. This is why I stay at home, she thought.

"Well, can't say the same," He muttered so quietly that she's not sure if she'd made it up in her head, but before she could react he interrupted her, "Oh, by the way, I'm Jackson."

"Um- April. April Kepner." She didn't not notice how he'd left out his last name.

"April. Spring's my favourite season you know. As the music would tell you. Do you-"

"Know who Vivaldi is ? Yes, I do … and Spring is my favourite piece from the quartet as well." She smiles back, a strange feeling inside her stomach at the fact that he was so like her.

"Well, you just became more appealing." He says, smiling eagerly at her and she doesn't fail to take note of the word 'more'.

She doesn't say anything, but instead blushes deeply, turning her attention back to her flats with cat ears on them.

"So, ice cream party ?" He asks, taking off the record and popping in the CD, handing her a popsicle.

She nods, taking the popsicle from him and sitting on the edge of the bed, while he jumps to the middle settling among the mass of pillows.

"You know you can come closer, right ? That's not going to be the most comfortable sitting position. I promise there will be no funny business." He says, pointing to the space next to him.

She hesitates for a second, mostly because she's never done this with a boy before and somewhat because she really wants to do it with this boy and that's a feeling she's not used to having. But he looks so hopeful, and she knows he's right about the lack of comfort in this position and she figures she let her inhibitions go this far so why not just throw caution to the wind for once in her life. She removes her flats, and tries her best to gracefully crawl to the middle of the bed and plops down next to him, not too subtly putting a pillow barrier between them. She knows he notices when the corners of his mouth twitch into a smile and she lowers her head abashedly.

"So, ready ?"

"Yep."

* * *

"No way is the jock the best character. It's definitely the basket case. I mean, come on, she has so much depth to her !" April argues, turning her body to face him and crossing her legs beneath her. Two ice creams each and one movie later, they were arguing on who took the title of best character.

"So does the jock !" He argues back, mimicking her actions.

"Yes, but not as intriguing as hers."

"I think it's best if we agree to disagree." He says, switching the TV off.

"Maybe it's just the fact that I relate to her better. You know, weirdo who no one understands." She laughs it off, although she isn't as successful as she wants to be in masking the pain beneath her words.

"You're not weird. Not in the least bit." He says, suddenly very serious.

"You haven't known me for even a day." She remarks, a morose laugh coming from her.

"Doesn't matter. You're not weird April. You're different. People are afraid of things that are different so they call it weird … or strange. It's a compliment, really." He notes, smiling at her.

She returns his smile, comforted by his words, happy to know that he was the exception.

"Thank you." She says, tucking a non-existent lose curl behind her perfectly kept ponytail.

"Is that why … why you like the jock ? Because you relate to him ?" She asks, tentatively, wondering if she was going beyond what was appropriate for 3 hours' worth of acquaintanceship.

He remains quiet for a while, not saying anything, and she almost changes the subject, feeling worse for making him feel uncomfortable, when he finally speaks up.

"I'm … um … My name … I'm an Avery."

"Like … like the-"

"Like Harper Avery's grandson, like the heir to the Harper Avery Foundation, like gets to sit in board meetings and vote for Harper Avery Award nominees even though I don't know enough about medicine to do that." He says, grimacing slightly.

"You like the jock because you know what it's like to feel pressured by your family to the point you want to break down ?" She asks, and her heart breaks for him, because beneath the suave and charming persona is a sad little boy.

"Ding ding ding," He says, laughing humourlessly, "They expect a lot. They expect more greatness than I think I'm capable of giving."

"I'm sure you are capable of it though." She says, placing a hand over his, sending electric jolts up her arm.

He stares at her hand and she wonders if he's just as affected as he is.

"You haven't known me for even a day." He throws her words right back at her.

"Doesn't matter." She does the same.

He grins at her then, and she can see he's returned back to cheery self.

"I think that you can never live up to people's expectations of you and sometimes if you want to be happy, you have to understand that that's okay. If you're living up to your own expectations of yourself, that should be enough." She says.

"Wise words, April Kepner." He replies, after mulling over them for a while.

She blushes and goes to remove her hand from his when he intertwines their fingers and pulls her a little closer towards him.

"Hey, April ?" He asks, staring deep into her eyes causing her heart to feel like it's going to pummel out of her chest.

"Yeah ?" She asks, voice so quiet that it's almost a whisper.

"I'm gonna kiss you now." He licks his lips, and moves his eyes to hers and watches her do the same.

"Er, okay" She mutters, gulping. She closes her eyes in anticipation of the kiss.

However, before he can actually kiss her, her phone starts to ring and she mentally curses whoever interrupted this moment because who knows if it will ever come around again or even if it does, if she'll ever be brave enough to want to go ahead with it.

"Hey Lexie." She answers the call and internally chastises her best friend for her horrible timing, listening to her explain how she felt bad for forcing her to come and was willing to leave early for her benefit. She almost laughs at the irony that a couple hours ago that would've been the best thing she heard all night, when now it is the worst. She agrees to meet her near the gate, and hang up without telling her where she is because she doesn't want anyone knowing right now. This could have just been a one-time thing, she reminds herself and surprises herself with how sad that thought makes her.

"I have to go." She says, avoiding his gaze, as the tension in the room is a lot different now because of their almost-kiss.

"Oh, well, um … will I … will I see you again ?" He asks, his confident tone changing to one of pure nervousness.

"I- You want to ?" She asks, genuinely astonished at the fact that he enjoyed her company enough o want to do it again.

"Of course I do. um … do you ?"

"YES !" She practically yells, and is immediately embarrassed at her overt enthusiasm, "I mean, of course. I had a nice time."

She looks around the room, walks up to his desk, boldly takes a piece of paper and writes her name and number down, handing it over to him.

"You can-um … you know … call me and … stuff" She says, suddenly losing the confidence she gained a mere second ago, running her hands through her ponytail.

"And stuff," He replies, winking back at her, causing her to blush for the 10th time that night.

He points out to her the way back to the gate, and she pretends to not know, because she was supposed to be lost. He asks her if she wants him to take her back and she denies, not needing the confrontation from Lexie tonight. She waves at him, walking towards the door.

"I look forward to another ice cream party."

"The best kind of party." She turns around, smiling widely at the thought of seeing him again.

"Our kind of party." He replies.

She walks out of the room, making her way to the hallway, when she hears footsteps, indicating someone running towards her. She turns back, and feels Jackson's hands around her waist, pulling her closer, bringing his lips down on hers. He pulls away far too quickly, and looks down at the floor embarrassed.

"I wanted to do that all night." He admits.

"Me too." She replies, watching his lips pull up into a lopsided grin.

"Hey April ? I'm really glad you got lost."

"I didn't actually."

"I know."

* * *

 **THANK YOU FOR READING !**

 **Please leave a review and let me know if you liked it. :)**

 **P.S : I promise to update 'Secret Santa' really soon ! So sorry for the delay :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer : I do not own Grey's Anatomy or these two characters.**

* * *

 **Pillow Fort**

He hates fighting with April. Absolutely loathes it. She looks cute, angry. She looks cute, period. But that's when she's a little pissed at him, over the dumb stuff. Like, when he forgets to buy the milk on his way home, or wash the cereal bowls on his way out. Or sometimes, it's when he hasn't given her enough kisses, and she refuses to talk to him until he pins her down and kisses her all over the face. Two times over. Those are the rules.

But sometimes, they truly fought. They yelled, screamed and paced. And while he thought it was cute when she huffed her cheeks out in indignation, when tears started coming, his heart couldn't take it. He wasn't a sensitive man. But seeing April cry, has never been easy. The way her eyes crinkled and glossed over, the way her cheeks blushed in a sad hue of soft pink, the way the tears traveled down her face leaving her freckles more pronounced. She was beautiful when she cried, but it broke his heart too much for him to ever want it to happen again.

He stuck the key inside the lock, turning it around, balancing all the flowers and truffles and apology gifts in one hand. This was their first fight. And it was stupid, although it had felt big at the time. He had paid off her student loans. Every single penny of it and surprised her with it. On the hindsight, he probably should have offered, and let her have a choice, but he hadn't thought it mattered all that much. She'd been furious, yelling at him about how people will start to question why they're together. She cared about things like that. People's perception of her. Even though, after running away from a wedding together, it had certainly gotten better. But it was a part of who she was, and he did love her whole, even when it frustrated him.

"Hey honey, I'm-" His eyes widen at the sight in front of him. In the middle of their usually immaculate living room floor, is a massive concoction of sheets and pillows. Sheets thrown haphazardly over pillars of pillows stacked one against the other. The front of this, play house like creation, is blocked from view by a sheet, probably, propped up by even more pillows. He's confused for a slight moment before he realizes what exactly this was supposed to be. A fort. A pillow fort to be more particular. A soft light was emanating from within it, and slow crunch of what sounded like cookies.

"April?" He asks, once more, a little unsure of why exactly his wife had built a pillow fort and was hiding inside of it, pretending he couldn't hear her low sound of steady munching.

"Go away." He hears a soft sound, finally coming through the mess of silk.

"Um, babe, I'm confused, why is there a … pillow fort in the middle of our living room?" He asked, shifting some of the gifts to his now vacant hand and walking slowly towards the it.

There was a beat.

"Because this is where I'm staying from now. You can live around it." She grumbles.

"Well, you're gonna have to pay rent then." It's not that he's not confused by it, he still is, but it's also endearing. She's mad at him so she decided to build a pillow fort.

"Why don't you just pay my rent for me? I mean, you love paying for things I should be paying myself so you know what you should just pay for this too."

He sighed. It was vain to hope she'd have let that go by now. But he could hear her sniffling inside there, and more cookie munching and he honestly just needed to hold her.

"I'm sorry." He admits, shrugging his shoulders, "You're right, and I'm sorry."

He waits for a second, hoping she'll say something.

"Go on, I'm listening."

And he smiles because he hears a faint smirk in her voice.

"I was an idiot."

"You were."

"I shouldn't have done what I did. I should've asked your permission. I'm sorry if it hurt you."

"It did."

He runs a hand over his face and kneels down in front of the opening.

"I love you. That's why I did it. I wanted to do something nice. I get that it wasn't too smart now." His fingers reach out to twist the sheets between them, "Can I come in now?"

"No."

"I brought macaroons from your Helga's and those truffles you love." She has a sweet tooth she just can't say no to.

He feels a slight hesitation, and then hears a rustling of sheets, before a beautiful redhead pokes her head through the opening.

He leans forward and kisses the tip of her nose and she looks slightly taken aback. Her mouth turns into a pout and he knows it's because she's angry at herself for wanting it.

"What's the password?" She teases him, her eyes glistening.

"Jackson is a Jackass?"

"Wow, you remembered!"

He begins to roll his eyes at her and stops having seen the frown she was throwing his way. He coughed, and quietly crawled through the space into the fort.

The place was quite crowded in the inside. His wife, and her tiny self, fit perfectly comfortably in here, but his height and built meant he had to crouch a lot and stuff himself into the corner.

"This is nice." He commented, "Can I have one?" He points to the box of truffles she'd happily indulging.

"Nope." She shakes her head, popping one into her mouth.

They remain silent for a second, before he speaks up.

"Forgive me yet?"

"I'm thinking about it."

He nods, watches her as she licks the chocolate from around her mouth, most probably intentionally.

"I love you."

"I always love you. Sometimes, though, I don't like you." She said, tossing her hair back.

"That's fair." He admitted, twisting a tendril in his finger.

"I just…. I don't want grand declarations of love. I already got one, and it was everything. I don't want you spending so much money on me, because you don't have to do that. I love you, anyway. Even if you only buy me a card for Christmas. I love you. Money was never a part of this relationship. It shouldn't have to be now." She says, moving closer to him.

"I know. I get it. I just love spoiling you." He says, looking down at his hands.

He hears her sigh, and she takes his hands in hers..

"You spoil me enough." She comments, "And I'm not talking about that car I made you return."

"That was a nice car." He nods his head, as she wraps her body around his. She lays her head on his chest, and he hugs her even closer to him.

"We could have bought 5 farms, instead."

"Can't drive a farm." He mumbles into her hair, and she giggles at his bad joke.

"I didn't grow up like you did. The trust funds, the unlimited credit cards, the inheritance, they scare me. It's overwhelming. But mostly, I hate that you paid it off because I don't want money to have anything to do with how we say I love you in our relationship." She twists the buttons on his shirt around, and lays a kiss on his neck.

"Maybe we should return the ring then?" He asks, almost sounding sincere but he can't keep the tease off his voice, and he gets a painful swat in return.

"No, that's the only exception." She smiles against him.

"Okay. I'm going to keep spending money on you, but I promise it won't be ridiculous nor will it be without your permission if it's something that really concerns you."

"Thank you, Jackson."

He smiles, and she finally leans up and kisses him. He takes her chin in his hands and holds her there, loving the way her soft lips feels against his.

"Thank you, for … paying it off and all. Even though I'm mad, it was really-"

He cuts her off again, this time, slowly pushing her onto her back. He didn't need to hear his wife thank him for that. Ever. It was his absolute pleasure. In time, he knew she'd grow more comfortable to the wealth, but for now he needed to let her grow on her own. She was still a farm girl at heart, with the kind of innocence that led to pillow forts in living rooms after arguments.

"So, what exactly do we do in here?"

She winks at him, and allow him to cover her body.

"Well," she begins, slowly running her hands up his arms, and resting his shoulders, "We could always….."

She brings her face up to his, lazily running her lips against his jaw, his breath coming out in staggers.

He moves his hands down her body, stopping at her waist, and slowly pushing up the material of her shirt.

"We could always?" He asks, placing a kiss on her collarbone.

Suddenly, he gets pushed on to his back with a loud thump, and he stays there a little confused.

"Um-"

"You, can stay in here for the rest of the night, and think about what you've done, while I will go have a bubble bath and then order some pizza. With extra pineapples."

She sticks her tongue out at him, clearly too acknowledge his dislike of pineapples on a pizza, his dislike of pineapples in general and shakes her bum a little on her way out, because she can be a tease if she wants to be.

He rolls his eyes at her, and starts to follow her out, when she pushes him back.

"I'm serious. Stay. Think. And then maybe," she drags out that last word, biting her lip and looking all sorts of naughty, "I'll give you some loving."

He grins and falls back. His wife was something else.

* * *

 **We deserve some japril fluff. It's not my best work. I am so sorry about that, it's because I wrote it last night, sleep deprived, for the wonderful ladies I met thanks to japril. They got me through this season. Thank you girls! Love you all!**

 **THANK YOU FOR READING!**

 **Please let me know what you thought of it :)**


	10. Chapter 10

_I've been writing lots on Tumblr, but not uploading it here, I don't even know why. I'm so sorry for that! I'll upload from now on! So there's a lot of fics coming your way at once. These were all posted previously on Tumblr btw_

 _ **THIS IS M RATED**_

 _Like, okay, it's not that bad, but it has suggestive themes ;)_

 _Disclaimer : The characters are property of Shonda Rhimes and Grey's Anatomy_

* * *

 **Whales and Sage**

"Hey."

He walks into the house, and sees April sitting on their couch, curled up, reading a book. A medical journal, probably for the boards. The mere sight of it was enough to worsen his headache, but she was a nice sight to see.

He shakes his head, ridding himself of those thought, as he groans internally. It's started some time ago. These thoughts he'd been having about his best friend, which he knows he probably shouldn't be. She'd mentioned something to him about a conversation with Mark, who'd suggested they should be 'the other kind of buddies.' She'd been flustered, embarrassed and a little upset, but he himself, on the other hand, had spent the rest of the entire night, after he'd assured her he was perfectly content with being just friends, wondering how on earth he'd ever been just friends with April.

Regardless, she clearly wasn't into it, and he wasn't about to ruin a perfectly great friendship over some treacherous thoughts he'd been having about his red headed roommate.

"Hey!" She responds, and stands up, tossing the journal carelessly on the couch, "You look tired, are you okay?"

He smiles, because she's always been very observant when it came to him. He was tired, from the boards, from surgeries, from having late night pep talks with himself to avoid wanting late nights with April. It had been an exhausting week. To top it all off, his whole body felt as if it had been beaten. His bones ached, his muscles felt heavy and there's was this knot on his upper back that he'd done everything to get rid of, and yet it was still there.

"Everything hurts." He whines, dramatically, and plops himself down on the couch. "It's like the day after you go to the gym in a really long time."

She laughs, and agrees. She's wearing a tank top, which she never wears, a black one. It's a little too tight for her, and he recognizes it's the one that Alex had shrunk, when she'd pulled an overnight and he'd had to do laundry. April never wears anything that's that tight, and it's making his situation a little harder. If that wasn't enough, she's wearing booty shorts that hugged her curves in all the right ways.

He was definitely going to need a pep talk tonight. Great. Just when he wanted to feel more like a pervert.

"Do you want me to give you a massage?" She asks, innocently enough, and his eyes pop open.

A massage? Of course he wants a message. It would really help with the pain and he'd love to have the knot magically disappear.

So his hesitation isn't because he doesn't want to. He's gotten massages from April before. They're best friends who understand the difficulty of standing up on your feet the whole day, and dealing with the stress of the job. So they help out. Just that, with his recent….thoughts on April, having her hands all over him, would just make the whole situation worse.

"If you don't want to, it's fine, I-"

"No. No, I do. I want to." He smiles, at her, managing to look thankful. He'll just have to force any non-platonic thoughts away from his head. He could do that. He could.

"It's in my back." He explains, and rubs his neck.

"Oh," She blushes, takes a second, and clears her throat, "Um… yeah that's fine. I- I don't mind. Just, um, go to the room, and lie down. I'll go bring the oils." She nods, and turns to leave to her room.

He walks into his room, and lies on his front, pushing a pillow under his arms to lay his head on. He's hoping he'll end up going to sleep, so nothing awkward can happen.

She walks in a little while later, and he can't see her exactly, but he hears bottles clinking.

"Um, Jackson. I think you're going to have to… well, take your shirt off?" She phrases it almost like a question, and he can hear the embarrassment in her voice. She's so cute, he thinks.

"Of-of course." He stammers, looking equally embarrassed, and stands to take his shirt off. He doesn't miss the way her eyes roam over his naked torso.

He goes to lie back down, and he hears her placing something on the bed table next to his bed.

"This is a eucalyptus and lavender candle. It's supposed to help you relax," She says, as she strikes the match, and the crinkling sound of fire files the room, as she lights the candle. A soft floral and leafy scent fills the room, and he immediately feels himself relax a little more. Well, as much as he can relax, considering the fact that April just switched the light off, and lit a candle, and this is already the most romantic massage he's ever received his whole life.

"It smells really nice." He comments, willing his thoughts away and concentrating on the scent.

"So I'm going to use this oil," She drops her voice a few octaves, and he figures that she's trying to create a soothing atmosphere for him, but all it's doing is making the situation even more intimate, "It has peppermint, sage and chamomile. It works wonders. I got it at the farmer's market, this lady who- sorry, I'm rambling. Maybe I should just put on some music?"

He chuckles. It's so April, and it's so endearing. He doesn't mind her voice. He actually thinks it's melodic.

"I don't mind you talking, April. But if it makes you more comfortable, you can put on some music."

She's gone for a little while, and he hears her come back, and he sees her plug her i-pod into the speaker in his room, and a few second later, strange sounds circle the room.

"Um, what the…. what is that?" He asks, and she walks near to his face, and looks at him quizzically.

"You don't like it?"

"No, it's…. interesting," He's trying to polite, "What is it exactly?"

"Whale sounds."

"I'm sorry, whale sounds?"

"Well, humpback whales to be more precise. They sing songs in a call to mate with their partners." She explains, and shrugs her shoulders as if it's common knowledge.

"So, it's a mating call?"

She nods.

He blinks at her, waiting for her to get it, but she somehow doesn't.

"Um, should I turn it off, or-"

"No, no."

"Okay then, I'm going to get started. You close your eyes, drift off if you want to." She smiles at him, and stands on his bedside.

He closes his eyes, and tries his best not to slap himself. He's going to get a massage, from April, in his bedroom, where there's freaking candle scents and massage oils, with a mating call playing in the background. Maybe he was already having a wet dream.

He tries to tell himself that once the massage begins it'll all get easier, but the moment she puts her hands on his body, he realizes just how wrong he was.

It's almost crazy how soft her skin is. Velvety, buttery, smooth skin. He's a little overwhelmed by how it feels against his. She runs her palms across his back, drawing random circles, up and down, up and down.

"Relax." She says, and he's pretty sure it's because she can feel his muscles twitching underneath her touch.

She runs her fingertips smoothly along his skin, and digs them down, putting pressure on his nerves. She's so good at this, too good at this. Her fingers work his skin meticulously, her hands putting just enough pressure and her movements hitting all the right spots. He's in heaven.

His whole body feels alive, the blood rushing faster, and faster, particularly to one part of his body, he's willing not to react. He's too busy concentrating on his… inactivity, when she hits one muscle and his whole body spasms.

"Is that the knot?" She asks, and he can only manage to move his head, because it feels heavenly when she's pressing on it. "Okay let me just… um…."

She pulls her hand away suddenly, and he almost whimpers at the loss of contact.

"Wait, why'd you stop?" He asks, twisting his neck.

"Hold on," She says, and he watches her step on the bed, tossing a leg over his torso, while keeping the other on the other side.

Oh. No.

"Um, April?" He asks, already finding it a little too difficult to breath.

"You don't mind, do you? It's just easier to work the knot like this. Am I too heavy?" She asks, tentatively settling down on top of him.

It would be much like April to think that the reason why he's not too thrilled about this idea is because she was 'too heavy.' She was as light as a feather. He could barely feel her, except he can. He can feel her. He can feel _her_ …. pressed into _him_.

Oh. Shit.

"No you're not. Go on." He manages to squeak out, and he lies down completely still.

He hears her squirting some oil into her hands, and then he feels her hands against him, once more, pushing at the knot. He's holding his breath. It feels amazing, and that combined with the feeling of her body on top his head, the way her lower half moved rhythmically according to the movements of her hands, had him on the verge of a heart attack. If it wasn't April Kepner, he'd have been certain that the she was trying to seduce him. Except this is April, and he's pretty sure she has no idea how badly she's torturing him.

She leans forward once more, trying to push the knot forward. It's hard for her, because he has a long torso, and she's a lot of smaller compared to him. And his senses go on overload, the moment he feels her breasts.

She's not wearing a bra, he notes. It's so obvious, because he feels her nipples grazing his skin. The hardened buds, sliding across his back muscles, and he can feel them hardening further, when she slides back up against him.

How is she completely unaware?

He misses the contact the moment she sits up, but is also grateful. He was a walking tight rope.

"How about… this?" She says, and rolls a part of his neck between her hands. It's the place, she's done it. The knot feels less and less tightening, until he doesn't feel it at all. The feeling of it subsiding felt amazing. So amazing, he couldn't stop himself from groaning….loudly.

"Oh." April says, giggling a little. "That good, huh?"

He buries his head in the pillow, his face heating up.

"Yep." He mutters, and is a little bit more suspicious she's aware what she's doing.

This is nice, he thinks. Even though he's a little mad at himself for acting like a pre-pubescent boy, at least he managed to get through this without feeling too horrible about his thoughts of April.

She hums softly then, but makes no move to get up. He feels her run her fingertips along his spine, shooting sparks through his body. He clenches his thighs together, as she continues to run her fingers along it. He almost wants to laugh, that he was able to control himself through everything, and this simple action is what makes him lose his control. Too late, he can feel himself growing.

"You have really nice skin." She comments, "It's so unfair! I use all these stupid products, and you just have nice skin doing nothing."

He can see her pouting, but he's a little distracted right now with his downstairs compartment.

"What are you talking about, you having amazing skin. It's so soft." He mutters.

"Thank you." She giggles again, and he's really starting to love the sound of that.

"I never noticed that you have freckles on your neck," She says, and leans in forward once more. He shut his eyes tight, but the hard on is a little… hard to fight off right now, no pun intended.

"I…do."

"They're so cute." She replies, and her mouth is close to his ear, and he can feel her hot breath on his neck. That combined with her fingers tracing his freckles, and her breasts once more pressed against him is enough to drive anyone mad. He's ready to make his own mating call at this point.

"Th-thanks."

She rests her head on his shoulders, her cheek pressing into his right shoulder blade, and she begins to gently poke each freckle, "One… two… three." The way she's counting has her lips moving across skin, and he's about to split through his boxers two at this point.

There is no way she doesn't know what she's doing.

He flips her. She falls into her back with a squeal and thud, and he climbs on top of her, trapping her between his arms.

"Okay, what are you doing?" He raises a brow, and watches her puff hair out of her face.

She mutters something, her face flushing, and he's a little aware of the position he's put them in.

"What?"

She looks directly at him, and he notes how she looks slightly mad.

"I was trying to seduce you!" She almost yells, and looks embarrassed about it a second later.

"You're…." He's not really sure what to think. First off, this is April, he wasn't really sure when this had happened between them but regardless he'd never expected her to feel the same way. Second off, she really shouldn't be this good at the whole seducing thing, even though she was.

"Yes." She nods, and bites her lip.

"Oh." He gulps, and his gaze drops to her mouth.

"I…. I've been getting these vibes… from you." She whispers.

"Vibes?"

"Seduce me vibes." She replies, and laughs, and then blushes furiously. He loves her bordering on confident and shy.

He smirks, and puts his weight on one forearm, while he brings the other one to her face and pulls her lip from between her teeth.

"And so you thought you'd seduce me?" He asks, and she nods, her gaze falling to his own lips, "Hm…. do you think it's working?"

She grins, a little too naughtily, and lowers her gaze down his body. She runs a hand down his chest, and she gracefully cups him over his pants.

"You tell me."

He's a little taken aback by her boldness, but he doesn't question it. He merely drops his head, and captures her lips. His mouth moves effortlessly over hers, as if they've been doing this for years, and not seconds, and she, in all her inexperienced glory, runs her hand up and down his length.

He grunts into her mouth once more, and he pulls away to see her lips slightly bruised, and her chest heaving. He's barely touched her and she already has this strong of a reaction. He didn't think it was possible to get more turned on.

"Is that why there's this whole, no bra situation?" He asks, his hand cupping her breast over the cloth, and smiles as her breath hitches.

"Mhmm." She replies, nodding, and he places his thumb in his mouth to wet it, before pushing his hand under the tank top, and circling an already hard nipple.

She moans, louder than he expects, and he's pretty sure he's going to come right then and there.

"You know," She says, breathless, as he continues to work her with his fingers, "I… haven't finished the massage… yet."

His brows knit together, as he drops his mouth to her other breast and bites the nipple through the cotton.

She suddenly pushes him onto his back, and she clambers up to sit on top of him, running her hands smoothly down his chest. She pulls her tank and throws it behind her, as he steadies her by holding her waist.

She rocks on top of him, and he curses, because the sight of his, supposedly, innocent best friend, in only a pair of booty shorts, rubbing herself against his erection is a sight too much to handle.

"I think you're still a tiny bit too tense." She says, pulling down his zip, and roughly pushing his pants over his hips, right below his knees.

She places a kiss on his boxers, and his length twitches, eyes rolling to the back of his head.

"I think this muscle is a little too… hard." She kisses him again, and he lets his hand thread through her hair, "But there's this massage technique, where you use your tongue instead of your hands. It's supposed to work wonders."

He's not sure where she learned to talk like that, but he's not about to question it. He's never wanted a girl to take him as much as he wants her to right now.

"Maybe… you could show me how," He says, as she pulls his boxers down, "Maybe _I_ … could give _you_ a massage with this… technique."

She sighs, as if he's touched her when all he's done is talk about the possibility of it, and he's pretty sure that from now on that's the only mating call he's ever going to need.

"After." She says, and she licks her lips at the sight of him.

"After." He agrees.

* * *

 **THANK YOU FOR READING!**

I've only written smut two other times, so apologies if it's cringey.


	11. Chapter 11

_This is a really special fanfic because about a year ago, thanks to this great website, fanfiction and Japril, I found one of my best friends, Truli. I can't really tell you how glad I am that I met her, but she already knows, so it's fine :P I wrote this for her birthday, because I know I couldn't really get her anything. Happy Birthday, once more Truli! Love you lots and thanks for being a part of my life!_

 _So she wanted, Jackson to go to Moline instead of Hunt in s8 to tell April how he felt about her (this is very much AU)_

 _Hope you enjoy!_

 _Disclaimer: The characters are property of Shonda Rhimes and Grey's Anatomy_

* * *

 **Spark**

There were a few minutes, during the whole journey here, where he stopped and wondered if he ought to have volunteered to come instead of Hunt. It's not that he didn't want to see her. God, did he want to see her. He'd missed everything single little thing about April Kepner. He'd missed her hair, the red curls that bounced perfectly when she put them in a ponytail, her hazel eyes that sometimes resembled his blue ones in different shades of light, her creamy, pale skin that was so darn soft because of the endless bottles of creams she insisted on using every night before bed. He missed her smile, her laugh, the bounce in her step, and he even missed her frown. He missed her so much, that sometimes he couldn't even go to sleep. He'd lie there on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, wishing he could have her right there next to him. Wishing, he'd told her what he wanted to tell her the night she left him.

He wasn't apprehensive about seeing her, in fact that was the main reason why he'd volunteered in the first place. What he was doubtful about is seeing her seeing him. How would she react? Would she be angry, sad, happy or worse, indifferent? It was that uncertainty of her emotions that made him think twice about taking this trip. But then his senses would be assaulted by a memory of the way she smelled; comforting, familiar, April. It always reassured him he was making a wise decision.

He'd gotten off the plane and made the 2 hour ride to Moline. He'd never been in a town this small. There was a grand total of one news agent, one post office, one supermarket, 2 bakerys, 3 clothing stores and a church. And lots and lots and lots of farms. All through the ride, he'd spent it trying to place April in all these places. He knows she worked in one of the bakeries on her summer holiday. He pictured her smiling wholeheartedly, in her cute ponytail and apron, pouring people coffee and making small talk. He pictured April at the clothing stores, walking in, picking the exact one she wanted and walking out. It was him, actually, who'd spend a long time picking out the clothes he'd want, while she sat there, rolling her eyes at him, chastising him for taking so long. He pictured her, as a child, the petite little red head, running wildly across acres of land with her sisters. After San Francisco, on a few nights, he'd woken up from dreams of a little girl who looked just like that, with a skin tone a few shades darker.

"We're here."

He's snapped back to reality by the cab driver, pulling up to the side of a dirt road. He thanks him, pays the fair, and gets out. In front of him, is a massive red barn, and a modest farmhouse, between two fields that looked like it ran for acres. There were horses, and cows grazing. And sheep, a little far off. He could also see a large corn maze to the right side. It was beautiful.

His nerves were crawling their way back up again. He felt his heart leap up to his throat, as he walked across the grass, towards the farmhouse.

"Jackson?"

He stopped in his tracks. The voice he'd been longing to hear for so long, but he'd been afraid to call her, afraid to talk about…. them.

He slowly turns around, and his heartbeat hammers loudly in his chest.

"April."

He says her name, full of care and reverence. She looks amazing. She's wearing her boots, blue jeans, and a checkered red shirt, with a bandana in her hair. The perfect farm girl fantasy. Except she's not really a fantasy to him anymore. He'd had her, touched her, kissed her, loved her. But this just reminded him how much he wanted to do that again.

"What-what are you doing here?"

She looked confused, the worry lines etching on her face.

"I-uh…." He was still a little awestruck at the sight of her. He's also trying to buy some time. Suddenly he forgets why he's here. It's in that moment his gaze shifts downwards to the little companion who's with her, "Is that a pig?"

The pig snorts, pushes a little away from April, and she hangs on tight and pulls him towards her.

"No, it's a duck."

He chuckles a little. April's sense of humor is never too lost.

"Jackson, what-"

"Is that a hen pen?" He points to another, much smaller barn, where he can see little chicks prowling around.

"Yes, it is. Look-"

"Wait, that's a pond. You actually own a duck. I thought you were-"

"Jackson! That's a farmhouse! That's a barn! That's a field! That's gravel road! That is a tree! This is a pig! What are you doing here?" She yells at him, her voice raised, loud and high pitched. The way it always got when she was a little too frustrated with him.

He's not sure where to begin, really. What he really needs to talk about is, that night. The night where everything changed. The night when shy, timid, April Kepner, punched a man at the boards and went on to launch herself at him, kissing him like he'd never been kissed before. She was confident, wildly happy and full of energy. He'd found her very difficult to say no to. Not that he'd wanted to. Since Lexie, and if he was been really honest, even before that, kissing April has always been a thought that had run through his mind. Heck, he'd imagined it, the first day he met her at Mercy West. But, for the life of him, he couldn't remember a reason why he hadn't. Innocence, friendship, not single. All the reasons ran carelessly through his mind, but none for them seemed good enough now. Maybe if he'd kissed her before. Maybe if he'd taken a the first step. Maybe if he'd not let her be with him, when she wasn't ready. Although, that night she'd given no indication of it. Maybe if all those maybes had happened, they wouldn't be here. Awkwardly wondering if that night meant more to the other. And better yet, his always prepared, extremely smart, nerd of a best friend would've passed her boards. She didn't deserve to fail. She was smarter than he was.

Even more so, she wouldn't have felt guilty about Jesus. He'd never known. Never suspected. Some sundays of the month, she'd disappear somewhere, but he'd never thought much of it. She always had her reasons. He'd nodded and told her to be safe. He knows why she kept it a secret from the others, but wonders why she kept it from him. Regardless, the last thing he'd expected her to tell him was that been with him, gave her a sense of betrayal. It hurt. A lot more than he'd care to admit. Especially because he knew she felt guilty about it, about them. No matter what she said in the men's bathroom. That was something else. God, was she a seductress. And he kept coming back. It was as if, all his life he'd been looking for something, searching for a void that needed filling. And he found it finally, with April. He couldn't get enough. He was nipping at the scraps she threw him, and he knew her hurt her, but she hurt him too. He wasn't here to play the blame game though. He was here to ask for a larger serving. A hopefully, eventual, lifetime supply of April Kepner.

"Jackson?" She asks once more, and he looks at her, a little more decidedly.

"Hunt wants you back." He starts with that. Because that's the easiest. And he knows, for a fact it'll make her happy.

"He wants me back?" She asks, eyes widening, not sure if he's saying what he's saying.

"He wants you to come back to Seattle. To Grey Sloan. To become an attending. He said he'll help you a lot more with your boards. He says he's sorry he didn't help as much. I- he wants you back."

He sees her eyes light up a little, and finally the smile he'd wanted to see. Although it doesn't reach her eyes, it's there.

"Really?"

"Really."

She squeals a little excitedly, and let's go of the pig who runs away, squealing himself. She runs up to him then, and it feels like forever and just yesterday all at the same time, when she throws herself into his arms. He hugs her tight, sweeping her off her feet. He smells her in, the sweet scent no longer coming from just a memory. She wasn't just a memory anymore. She was real, and he was holding her. After a while she shimmies her way out of his grip, and he sets her down. She doesn't look up at him, but stares at his shoes.

He wants to keep her there for a minute, happy, delighted. But he knows he needs to tell her the other stuff. The less happy stuff.

"Sloan died." He whispered, and a sharp pain rips through his chest. It will take a long time to heal that wound. Lexie's death was hard. He was never in love with her, that was Mark, but he'd loved her. As a friend, if nothing else. He missed her. But Mark. He was a lot of things to Jackson. A mentor, a friend, a father figure. He missed him more than he could comprehend.

"Oh Jackson." Her voice sounded broken, and he looked at her to see tears in her eyes. His vision was blurred and he realized she wasn't the only one who'd gotten emotional.

He felt small hands reach up to his face. He felt her cup his face between her hands, and felt her thumbs swipe across his skin.

"I'm so sorry." She whispers and he lets his head fall on her shoulders, and she holds him there, while he finds comfort in her. She rubs his back and hums low, almost like she was soothing a child.

After a while, he gathers himself and pulls away from her.

"You didn't call." He states, clearing his throat.

"Neither did you." She says, her tone more clipped. She's angry. He should've expected this, "The phone works both ways you know."

He hangs his head down in shame, "I didn't think you'd want me to."

"You're my best friend. You were my best friend before… and you're my best friend after. At least that's what I thought." She shrugs, and now she's sad. He hates himself a little more.

"You're right," He nods, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. I was just… I didn't know what to say." She admits, running her hands down her jeans, wiping away dried mud.

"Neither did I." That's not true. He'd known exactly what to say. He'd said it to everyone except to April. They had a spark. The spark had always been there, and now that they've explored it, seen what could come from that spark, he couldn't get enough. There was a spark, a spark that could one day become something more, if it already hasn't. He just wasn't sure how to go about saying it.

"Um, so, couldn't they just have sent me an email letting me know?"

"Oh-"

"April?"

He turns around and the sound of the voice, and comes to face a man, who appears to be in his early 50s, taller than he is, and who looks like he could kill Jackson with one hand.

"Joe." He pulls out his hand, and smiles at the man he'd met about 2 times. Once during a Christmas he hadn't gone to Boston, and the other time was after the shooting. He was a little intimidating, but Jackson could see the immense love he had for his daughter. At the time, it had even made him slightly jealous.

"Jackson, son. It's good to see you again." Joe smiles, shaking his hand, in a good solid grip, "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just… I wanted to tell April that she got rehired to Grey Sloan."

Joe beams and looks at April, who nods in confirmation, "I told you they'd regret letting you go. I'm so happy for you, honey."

"Thanks, daddy." April smiles at him as he hugs her tight against him. The pang of envy comes running up, but he musters it down.

"Jackson, you don't have anywhere to be do you? My wife's making lunch. You should join us." Joe asks, already heading towards the house, before even Jackson can answer. It's not a question, really and he looks at April for her approval and she shrugs. Although, he doesn't fail to see a slight hesitation.

They walk across the yard, and he dusts himself off the carpet before he walks into their house. It's homely. It looks lived in. He loves it already. He follows Joe and April into the kitchen, where smells of delicious varieties assault his senses. The Kepner's can cook.

"Sweetheart, looks who's here." Joe announces, as he walks around the island to where his wife is taking a batch of roasted potatoes out of the oven.

She turns around and her face instantly lights up, "Jackson! Oh it's so good to see you, honey. How have you been?"

Kepner's are also huggers, he noticed.

"I'm doing well, Mrs. Kepner."

"Oh, call me Karen. None of that Mrs. Kepner. I feel old as it is." She chastised him.

"You don't look a day over 20, Karen." He grins, and Joe laughs boisteresly, nodding his head in agreement. He looks to his right and sees April grinning, mumbling the word 'charmer' under her breath.

"Oh, stop. You're too charming." She blushes. She goes to turn back to her work, when she suddenly stops, "Wait, why are you here?"

Joe relays the story to Karen, and after much squealing and hugging and kisses, Karen voices to her daughter, "But couldn't the hospital just have called you to tell you this?"

He looks at April sideways and sees her watching him back, curious as to the answer herself. He never got to tell her, really.

He hears a gasp coming from the older redhead, and he turns his head towards her to wonder what she looked so ecstatic about.

"Oh dear! Are you two- are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?" She squeals, and he laughs before he has a chance to be taken aback, because she phrased it so hilariously. Like they were in high school, as opposed to two grown adults with PhDs. Although, considering the way they've been acting the last couple of weeks, he doesn't blame her.

"What?! Mom! No! We are not boyfriend and- We are not dating! Gosh, why would you think that?" April looks genuinely pissed off at her mother's assumption, and very embarrassed as her rosy cheeks would stand account to. He's a little hurt by her strong reaction. Would it be such a bad thing if they were?

"Oh alright, you don't have to get so worked up on it." Karen said, rolling her eyes. Jackson nodded a silent agreement.

"Mom."

"I'm just saying, you would make cute babies, that's all."

His eyes widened and he choked a little bit on the water Joe had offered him a minute ago.

"Mom!" April yelled, patting him slowly on the back to ease his windpipes.

"Oh, I'm a mother. I think about these things," She looks up at Jackson with a wide smile, "You know, April cooks as well as I do. Maybe, even better."

"Oh my god, Mom! Stop trying to pimp me out to Jackson!" April throws her arms widely, the embarrassment evident in her voice. The two men chuckle along. It's not like he really needed any 'selling' on the April front.

"Don't be so crude, April. Anyway, Jackson, please go sit down. Lunch is almost done."

They all sat down, and Jackson instinctively reached out for the potatoes that he'd been eyeing since they were pulled out of the oven.

"Let's say grace, shall we?" Joe Kepner asked, reaching his hand out to his wife and April.

Grace. April's family said grace before they ate. He smiled, retrieving his hand back, hoping they didn't notice.

"Jackson, you don't-." April whispered from her seat next to him.

"Hand." He asked, sticking his own one out, and she sighed, before taking his.

"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the food on our table, and for the opportunity to enjoy our meal with those who love us. Thank you, for believing in our April and for allowing her the opportunity of getting her job back. And thank you, for bringing Jackson into our home. We are forever grateful for all your blessings. Amen." Joe concluded, "Let's eat."

Everyone started helping themselves, but Jackson could feel April staring at him out of the corner of her eyes. She was still curious, still wondering and he really wanted to give her an answer. Although, he felt the lunch table was a little inappropriate. Not that Karen would mind, he thought.

"Jackson, when is your flight back?" Joe asked, passing the beans to April.

"Um, tomorrow. At around 10 am, actually. I have a ticket for April too," April looked at him wide eyed, probably not expecting the departure to be so soon,"Unless, you want to get it deferred for another day?"

"No! Not at all! I'll pack soon. I didn't bring much stuff anyway." She almost bounced up and down her seat enthusiastically.

"April's been getting a little tired of the farm, you see." Joe teased.

"Daddy, I love you but-"

"But the only thing you want to be cutting is a human body."

The whole table laughed, although Karen still felt the need to swat him in the arm after a few chuckles. Ah, so that's where the swatting comes from.

"Where will you be staying until tomorrow?" Karen inquires, serving him more sweet corn, even though he's already close to bursting.

"I thought I'll get a hotel room, nearby." He shrugs. He hadn't exactly thought this plan through. He'd only decided that he was going to go Ohio to get April, in more ways than one, the moment Hunt told him that he'd decided to hire her back.

"Nonsense. You can have the guest room. April, honey, do you mind going upstairs after desert and taking care of it?" Karen smiled sweetly.

He opens his mouth to protest but sees April already making excuses on his behalf. She's trying to avoid him. That's the only thing that could explain her denying hospitality to another person. Well, he's not about to let her. They needed to talk. No matter how awkward and unpleasant it was for her.

"Thank you, Karen. I really appreciate it." He smiles, and smirks at April, who pouts back at him.

After a few too many slices of pecan pie with extra whipped cream, made from scratch, Jackson watches April, mumbling angry words at him under her breath, march up the stairs carrying some linen.

He makes a move to follow her, to catch her alone, when an arm pulls him into the living room.

He comes face to face with Karen and Joe. Joe looks a bit more awkward, standing there with his feet tapping on the wood, almost as if he can't wait to get going.

"She likes you." Karen says, and looks at Joe, who after a sigh, nods in agreement.

Jackson blinks, not really knowing how to respond to that.

"She hasn't stopped talking about you since she got here. It's her boards, Jesus and you," Karen says, and he looks out of the corner of his eye to see Joe trying not to chuckle, just as he is. It was a strange sentence if one was been honest.

"Son, do you like her?" Joe asks, raising a brow. He's probably wondering if there was any point in letting him know any of this if there was no reciprocation.

He nods.

"Oh I knew it!" Karen squeals, clapping her hands, "I told you!"

Joe laughs then, and looks Jackson in the eye, "It's the way you look at her."

Jackson smiles too, and nods again. He's still a little dumbfounded, clearly he wasn't expecting this much of an encouragement. It probably helps that neither of them knew that it was his fault April didn't pass the board's. He was the one who'd slept with her, and left her, when he knew her well enough to have known she'd freak out. He was the one who'd distracted her again, in the men's bathroom, because he couldn't seem to be able to resist whatever charm she was spinning. It was his fault. He'd do it all again, in a heartbeat, but it was his fault. Although, he knew she'd say it wasn't, he can't but put the blame on himself.

He also figures that they wouldn't be too happy knowing he didn't really have any faith. Karen and Joe seemed very inculcated into the values of their religion. Regardless, he appreciated they thought he was good enough for their daughter.

"Thank you."

It was all he could manage to say at this point, really. It seemed enough for the two.

He walked up, and headed to his room to find April nowhere in sight.

It's not until late at night, after dinner, that he finds the time to talk to her. He takes a nap, and then falls asleep right until dinner, because the jet lag and the endless nights of staying awake, finally gets to him. The pin drop silence of the countryside and the knowledge that April is here, lulls him to a deeper sleep than he'd anticipated. He wakes up to a meal big enough to feed an army, and he eats up like he's been starving for a week. Well, 3 weeks technically. That's how long it had been since he'd last seen April. Without her, him and Alex had basically existed on a diet of ramen noodles and Chinese takeout. They get the stir fry vegetables, just to be on the healthy side.

He knocks on the bedroom door, and hopes she opens it. He waits a minute, listens for any sounds of her moving about, but hears none. He'd seen her go into the room, he's sure of it. He tries the door handle, and realizes it's not locked.

"April?" He asks, and gets no reply, so he pushes it open wider and walks in.

He looks around her room, but finds her nowhere in sight. He sees the bathroom door open and makes his way towards it, when he hears a rustling coming from out of the window. He makes a detour and looks outside to find April, sitting with her back to him, on the roof, casually staring out.

"Mind if I join you?" He asks, quietly, so as to not startle her, but he does see her jump slightly in suprise at his voice. She looks around, clearly looking for an escape route, a way to avoid him, but finds none.

"Sure." She nods, scooting a little to the right so as to make some room for him.

He sits down next to her, a little bit too careful, because this is the first time he's sitting down on a roof. He's not sure how exactly she seems so comfortable with it, when he's doing his best not to imagine himself falling to his death.

He finds a comfortable position and settles down next to her.

"Wow." The view is breathtaking. At night, accompanied cool breeze, is a gorgeous starry sky, filled with a million specks of bright stars, and a full moon, and in front of him stretches acres and acres of field. It's a beautiful place to grow up, he thinks.

"I forget you're a city boy, sometimes." She says, and nudges her shoulder.

"Hey, Boston isn't too bad."

"Yes, but do the city lights beat this?" She asks, pointing upwards.

"Not even a little bit." He admits, and she smiles.

He feels at peace in this moment, even though things are tense and they're about to get even more tense.

"Are we ever going to talk about the boards?"

He feels her stiffen next to him.

"What's there to talk about?" She asks, and he rolls his eyes.

"I don't know April, maybe the fact that we slept together. Maybe, the fact that was your first time. Maybe, about how we did it again in the men's bathroom. Maybe, about how we haven't talked about it since it happened, and maybe about how you left before I even had a chance to tell you-" He stops midway, and composes himself. He's angry. He doesn't want to say what he was about to say angry.

"I'm sorry." He hears a soft whisper next to him, and out of nowhere April starts to cry. Full on tears, falling down her face. This was definitely not how he'd expect it to go.

"Hey, hey. It's okay," He pulls her into him, and she offers little resistance, "What are you apologizing for?"

"I'm such a mess. I… I broke my promise to Jesus, and… and I… I used you, and I clearly hurt you. I hurt Jesus, and you, and my parents, and it's all because I'm such a mess." She sobs into his chest, and he feels the cotton get soaked.

"Hey, hey. Used me? I think I was a very willing participant. If anyone used anybody, it was me." He nods, and she looks up at his face, all teary eyed and beautiful.

"I told you not to say that. I jumped you, Jackson. Not the other way around. I jumped you, and then I freak out, and then I fail my boards and blame you for everything, and if that's not enough, I run. I'm a mess."

"You are not a mess. Look, hey, look at me," He lifts her chin up, before she tries to bury her face in his chest once more, "I loved been with you. I loved every single moment of it. Did-did you?"

She nods, eyes cast downwards, and a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"But you still feel guilty?" He asks, a little morose.

She hesitates for a second, and nods once more.

"I wanted to wait."

"I wish you'd told me that." He says, and he does his best to wipe her tears.

"I know."

"I would've waited."

She looks up at him, blinks and she wrinkles her nose at him, "What?"

"For you. If you stopped kissing me that night, and told me you didn't want to go ahead, because you wanted to wait, I would've waited for you."

"Really?" She stutters. He nods.

"I know you feel like you let your religion down, and I would've never slept with you if I knew, but I don't regret it, April. I don't. I don't regret a single second of being with you, because it was…. something else."

She gasps, and he wonders if it's because she finds him hard to believe. She leaves his embrace and looks up at him, eyes wide.

"I don't either," She admits it, "I mean, I still wish I could have waited, but… like I said, you changed me. I can never regret that."

He smiles, content at least in the fact that she doesn't regret them, even if she still feels the guilt.

"I'm sorry you feel guilty." He says, sincerely.

"I'll get over it." She shrugs, "I've been praying a lot. Thinking about revirgenizing."

He's not entirely sure how one would go about that, but he doesn't question it. He's just a little confused how she says she doesn't regret it, while also trying to forget it ever happened, "Is it working?"

"The first thing I wanted to do when I saw you was kiss you senseless, and then drag you to the back of the barn. You tell me."

He's a little speechless for a while, because he didn't expect that much of honesty, and he also didn't expect the bit about the barn. Well, it'll be a solid follow up to the men's bathroom if anything.

She groans, and he realizes she's a bit embarrassed about being so open. He grins.

"I can't believe I said that."

"I can't believe you said that either." He says, and they both start laughing uncontrollably.

A few minutes pass before they settle down.

"Is that what you came here for? To… talk about… the boards?" She turns her head, and looks at him. He pushes a curl away from her face, and cups her cheek, and watches the spot he touched, turn a shade of pink.

"You blush like crazy," He comments, slightly chuckling, "and no. Well, technically, yes. It was about that too. But it's not just that."

"Okay." She drags the word out, implying he ought to continue.

He clears his throat, "Spark."

He mentally slaps himself. After all this time, all this waiting, that's all his brain could think of to say. Smooth.

"Um, spark?" She looks confused, as she should.

"When you… kissed me, I felt this… this spark," He stammers, he's never been this nervous. Then again, he's never felt like this, "It's like, I never wanted to stop kissing you."

It's so corny and all he can do is laugh uncomfortably, and she still looks shocked. He really hopes she'd say something.

"Okay, so, here goes," He starts, looking at her, straight in the eyes, because it reminds him just why he's so scared but also why it'll all be worth it, "I like you… a lot. A lot more than I ever thought I could, really. And I know that one day, some time later, maybe after about 2 dates, I'm going to tell you how I love you. I'm going to tell you, that you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and that you're my best friend, and that San Fransisco didn't just change you. It changed me too. I'll tell you how there was a spark, and that was all I could think about, because for me, there had always been lust, or desire, but never a spark. I'll tell you that I hope you felt it too. If you say yes, then I'll probably ask you if it's alright if sometime later, I could maybe marry you and we can make love as much as we want. I'll tell you, I'm happy we found the spark. And then, you… you'll tell me…"

He poured his heart out, but the confidence slowly weaves off when he realizes the gravity of what he'd said, and how the next thing that comes out of her mouth will make or break him. He wants her, all of her. Back in Mercy West, he found a friend, sweet, nerdy and a little eccentric. In Seattle Grace, he found his best friend, funny, loving and his rock. In San Francisco, he found his other half. He found a best friend, and lover and soulmate all wrapped into one perfect little box, in the wonder that was April Kepner. He hopes, beyond all hope, that she found those in him too.

She opens her mouth and he braces himself, "I'm happy we found the spark too."

It takes him a moment to realize, as he kisses her on a rooftop in Moline, under a million sparkling stars, that maybe there is such thing as a soulmate. That maybe for some people, there really is only one person.

* * *

 **THANK YOU FOR READING!**

Hope you liked it. Hope it wasn't too corny. It was wasn't it? :D


	12. Chapter 12

kepnerssavery wanted season 10 from Jackson's POV. This isn't't that exactly, I'll have something better up for that, but this is sort of that. I don't know. She waited so long for this, I am a bad person and am lucky she hasn't killed me yet. The OS is coming promise! But for now, hope you like this small drabble3

Shout out to japril12 whose conversations I love having inspired a lot of these moments :D

Disclaimer: The characters are property of Shonda Rhimes and Grey's Anatomy

* * *

 **Changed**

I knew when I asked, alright suggested, April to marry me, it was going to change my entire life. When I suggested that, it was more of the romanticism of the idea that appealed to me. Here was the woman, I was head over ass in love with, and she's not only agreed to love me for the rest of my life, but she also ran out of a wedding to another man to prove just how ready she was. So there I was, in a relationship that was going nowhere, to married to this gorgeous redhead, in a matter of hours. It's a big change for anyone.

The first thing I realised was that no longer would I be capable of sleeping, stretched out across the bed, like an octopus. Sure, I'd shared a bed with someone before, but this was for forever. For the rest of my life, I was going to have to sleep on one side of the bed. Two things is concerning about this situation. My wife is very small. I'd be lying if I said, that the thought of rolling over and suffocating her in my sleep hasn't concerned me. It's far off, I know, but I tend to worry about ridiculous things sometimes. To top it all off, my wife, was a cuddler. She loved cuddling, and like a magnetic pull, she always gravitated toward me at night. I mean, there's a lot of space in this bed. It's a personally designed king size bed. And at night, when she's lying pretty much on top of me, I longingly gaze at the mass of empty bed space. But it's alright, really. She's warm, and soft, and no matter how much I complain, I sleep a lot of better with her pressed up against me.

Next comes the design of the house. Apparently there's something wrong with it. It feels too much like a bachelor pad to her, and she tells me she's pretty sure I'm not a bachelor anymore. She goes shopping the next day, and I call Bloomingdale's to let them know she'd be coming, and anything she buys to put it on my card, but when she comes back after the spree, I notice an array of target and dollar tree bags, and orders set from IKEA and I almost laugh to myself knowing there's no way April would step a foot in a store that sells a lamp that costs $1000, as she takes no time to let me know.

"The floor mats cost $600. The floor mats on the bathroom, that we step on with our dirty shoes cost $600," She tells me, hands all over the place to indicate her disbelief, and I nod his head, pretending that it is in fact ridiculous. I don't have the heart to tell her that her fake fur vanity seating cost just as much. She'd probably shoot me.

"So I went to the dollar tree, and guess how much their doormats cost?" She defiantly asks me.

"A lot less." I smirk, because I know just how much she loves to rub a good deal on my face.

"You betcha. $10! So I bought 5," She holds them up, one by one, "Only difference between these ones, and that one, is that these let me sleep at night."

So I change. I look at the price labels when I buy food, I go to Costco for my shopping, I do the laundry at our house and let her teach me how to make my own latte. Okay, I never actually make my own latte, but I do walk by the latte machine each morning.

But it's my shoes, I refuse to budge on, even though, bless her heart, she makes an attempt.

"Why do you need this many shoes?" She asks, pointing at my sneaker collection.

"Because, I like them." I say, smiling at the footwear, "It's like the homage to throw pillows you've got going in the living room."

She rolls her eyes, "They serve a purpose."

No they don't, but I don't tell her this.

"My shoes do too."

"Yes, but why this many?," She asks again, hands on her hips, "Like, isn't this the same exact pair?"

She holds up two shoes, from two different pairs, and dangles them in front of me.

"Babe, they're clearly different." I say, scoffing at the fact that she can tell.

"How?"

"That one is in blue, and this one is in red." I point out, taking the two from her and gently placing them back in their place.

She stands there staring at me for a moment, and then walks out the room muttering to herself. I run after her, pick her up, and give her some love, and she doesn't bring up the shoes after that. Heck, she even buys me a pair on Valentine's.

I also spend a good day thinking of how to break to April that I refuse to listen to Taylor Swift on our car rides together, no matter how well lyrically composed she says her music is. But she's my wife now, and I realise I have to make the compromise.

"You can pick the radio station." I smile at her when she gets on the car.

"Really?" She grins, and turns on the radio, and settles down.

 _ **All my life, I want money and power**_

 _ **Respect my mind or die from lead shower**_

"Oh, you can change that." I tell her, leaning forward.

"What? No way! It's Kendrick Lamar!"

At this point, I am a little shocked that she knows and a little disappointed in myself I assumed she didn't.

"You listen to Kendri-"

My efforts are all in vain, as I sit an entire car ride listening to her belt out every lyric, perfectly. I too mumble along, but there are parts that are too fast for me, that she catches up and sings in time.

"It's because you talk fast." I reason.

"It's because I'm better at everything." She winks, and I love her too much to disagree.

TV time is the most difficult change. As someone who exclusively watches ESPN and NBA games, it's a little difficult getting used to her nonsensical TV viewing. I had very different expectations when she suggested we Netflix and chill. I'm not sure April has a good grasp of what it really means.

"Babe, stop, I'm trying to concentrate." She pushes me off of her, as I try to get a little frisky with my wife.

"Well, this is the chill part of Netflix and chill." I groan, pulling her up to chest. She settles on me, her back to my chest, and I run my hand under her t shirt.

"I thought it meant you chilled, like you watched Netflix and hung out with each other." She says, genuinely confused by the millennial terminology.

"Babe," I whine, burying my face in her hair, "That's not what it means. You're so uncool."

"Don't you call me uncool, mister." She pokes my side, and I pretend it fake hurts to humor her, "Gilmore Girls is the TV show of my teenage years. We're watching the re run, no sex."

So I naturally have to comply, and flop back on the couch, but at least be happy I get to hold her near to me. Also, it doesn't hurt that I take my time pretending to be interested in the show. It's not bad, but my enthusiasm is definitely fake. _Definitely_.

"What? Dean? Really? He's the worst!" I complain.

"He's sweet."

"He's boring."

I roll my eyes, and throw a popcorn kernel at the TV, while my wife gives me the side eye.

"What?" .

"You're enjoying yourself aren't you?" She smirks.

"No I'm not! I'd rather we watch the game."

"Oh, well I don't mind changing the channel."

She leans forward and I pull her back, trapping her between my arms and legs.

"No!" I yell, and realize I said that with slightly more gusto than I intended, "I mean, it's an… old game."

"Sure, Jackson." She grins, and laughs, and I shrug my shoulders. Whatever, so I'm invested.

"Team Jess." I mutter under my breath, and April giggles relentlessly. I'll miss any game, any day for that sound.

Change is inevitable when you get married, I realized. I used to come home to an empty bachelor pad, eat take out and sometimes have a date with my girlfriend at the time. Now I come home to an apartment where there's always some kind of noise, be it loud music or the TV playing in the background because April hates the silence and the smell of home cooked food. There's no pressure to go on dates, because my wife and I both prefer our stay at home pizza and sex dates. I get to share my life with my best friend, whose also the woman I'm so crazy in love with. I spend my time with her doing this creepy stalker thing where I stare at her for long periods of time just smiling like an idiot. I don't mind the change. The change brought me her. She's a change I can never imagined I ever lived without.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

_This is based off of a prompt asking for what my ideal canon japril family would be like. I feel obligated to let you know three things, (a) This was written about a year ago. (b) The grammar is horrible! It's not my best, it's not even my somewhat okay, work. So, I am sorry if I let you down. (c) I like big families, I mean, BIG FAMILIES. Just so you're ready :P_

* * *

 **Samuel**

Samuel Norbert Avery knew that growing up in a big family meant lots and lots of patience. It meant that although it had already been 30 minutes since he had gotten ready, he had to sit on top of his suitcase, flipping through his favourite Dr Suess book and wait for the rest of the family.

He heard someone walk towards the living room and looked up to see his mother carrying his younger sister, who was struggling in her arms. She put her down on the kitchen counter and started to brush her hair, while his sister kept yelling really loud. Samuel sighed, thinking about how he had never been a fan of how loud his sister could be when she had to do something she didn't want to do. He recalled how his mother called her Princess Harriet when she acting this way. She had quite a reputation. His mom always said that she got it from their dad. Samuel laughed to himself, remembering how his dad would argue and say that he was pretty sure she got her lungs from mom and mom would slap his chest.

Regardless of whom she got it from, Samuel had always thought his sister, Harriet Celie Avery, who was 4 years old, one year younger than he was, was crazy sometimes. Gramma Catherine had always said that she's got 'quite a personality'. He wasn't entirely sure what she means by that but he guessed it just meant that the way she behaved was really too much for everyone to handle. She drove mama crazy; if she didn't like something, you knew it. She talked to strangers and always got into trouble at school for saying things you shouldn't because she was "too smart for her own good" or atleast that's what mama said. Samuel just didn't understand her sometimes.

April had finally managed to put Harriet's hair into a bun with a pretty flower around it, but the yelling still continued. Harriet was now squirming around the kitchen counter, banging her arms and feet, looking like a bug turned upside down.

"Harriet, no sweetheart. Please stop doing that. It's going to ruin your hair." April said, while trying to pick Harriet up from the counter, while also trying not to get slapped in the face by her. Samuel knew that that was definitely not going to work. The only thing that would stop his sister whenever she got this way was when she got so tired she couldn't yell anymore. No amount of scolding, or kissing or even promises to buy toys and candy could stop her. But they didn't have time to wait until she calmed down today. They had to go to the airport, because they were going to Ohio to visit Granny Karen and Grampa Joe. He'd also get see his cousins and aunts and uncles. He really liked most of his cousins. Lilly, his Aunt Alice's daughter, was his age and probably his favourite cousin if you didn't count George, Aunt Kimmy's son who the oldest of his cousin's and so cool. The rest of his cousins were fine too, and his uncles were okay.

He wasn't a big fan of his aunts, though. Well, he did like his Aunt Alice. She was really nice to him and bought him ice cream whenever it was her turn to take him and his cousins to the park. Aunt Libby was nice enough to him, but she was mean to his dad. He wasn't really sure what she was saying about his dad but sometimes he would see her whispering really low to his mom and mom looked at her like she wanted to punch her in the face.

But his least favourite Aunt had to be Aunt Kimmy. She treated Samuel like he was a little baby (He was five !) and she was so mean to both his mama and daddy. She made daddy so mad, his dad always screwed up his face and rolled his eyes whenever she was talking and worst of all, she made mama real sad. A month ago, they had come to visit them for his mama's birthday, and they had gotten to a huge argument. From what Samuel could remember it was about how mama was gonna have more babies. Aunt Kimmy said if mama was going to keep being a doctor she had to stop "popping them out like puppies". After the fight, mama had gone into her and dad's room and daddy had hugged mama until she stopped crying. Dad had come out of the room after a while and asked Aunt Kimmy to please leave right now, the way he did when he was really mad but trying not to show it. Mama kept saying she didn't want to go to Ohio because it was going to be real weird between them now.

"Jacks. Jacksooooon. JACKSON." Samuel was brought back to reality by April yelling for Jackson. Harriet was still going strong with her protest and Samuel saw that his mom was holding her head up with her hands so she wouldn't ruin her hair.

"Yeah babe? Are we having a competition to see who can yell the loudest?" Jackson appeared in the living room, clearly surprised at the amount of yelling his sister was doing, even though he was half smiling.

"I can't Jackson. She is being impossible this morning. And I have so much more to do. I have to finish packing for us and for the twins. I have to pack snacks and check if all our passports are okay." April was running her hands through her hair, almost pulling it at it. She turned around quickly and saw Samuel sitting there for the first time since she came into the living room. "Samuel. Baby. How … How long have you been here for?" She looked upset that she hadn't seen him before and Samuel felt bad. He knew it wasn't his mama's fault. His sister could be a handful sometimes.

"Not long mama." He lied, knowing she'd be upset otherwise. "Hattie's gone crazy." He said, walking towards her and hugging her legs.

"Yes she has." April said, laughing genuinely. "But your daddy is going to take care of it, ye?" April continued, throwing Jackson a hopeful look.

"Daddy sees that he has no choice in this matter." Jackson said, laughing. Although he was clearly looking a little unsure on how to handle Harriet. "You'll take the twins?"

"No problem. Come on Sammy. Help mama with the twins." April said, taking his hand and walking towards their room. Samuel's parents were his favourite people in the world. He loved them so much.

He walked behind his mama as they went inside the twin's room. Samuel liked the twins. He played with them and they thought he was really cool because he was the oldest, unlike his sister Harriet who was so annoying and mean to him. The twins, Micah Holden Avery and Maya Lisbeth Avery, were both sitting on the floor playing with their toys. Micah had his arms crossed, pouting, and looked like he was about to burst into tear. Maya on the other hand, was peacefully carrying on a tea party with her dolls.

"Mama, mama, mama." Micah started shouting as soon as they entered the room. "MAMA."

"Yes baby boy, what's wrong ?" April said, bending down.

"Maya no play me." Micah said, tears actually running down his face now.

"Maya won't let you play ? Maya, sweetie, let your brother play with you." April said, patting her head.

"Mi stupid." Maya said, shrugging her shoulders. This made Micah burst into full waterworks.

"MAYA! We don't call each other stupid in this house." April, pulled Micah into a standing position and tried to brush off his tears. "Say you're sorry."

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO." Maya yelled, running around the rooms, bursting into tears herself. Samuel didn't understand why they were been so weird today. Usually the twins were really chatty but they weren't too hard on mama like Harriet was.

"YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES" Micah yelled back, running around April, crying even louder. Samuel was annoyed. It's like they were trying to see who could make the most sound. Like his dad said about his mother and sister.

"GUYS! STOP! This is ridiculous!" April said, completely frustrated. "Sammy looks like you're the only one who woke up on the right side of the bed."

Samuel didn't really understand how this could be the reason why they were behaving weird, but his mom was a doctor so she knew about these things more than he did. He would now be extra careful to not move around at night. He didn't want to be this crazy any day ever.

"Maya! Micah! STOP! You're been so 'noying! BE QUIET OR WE WON'T GO TO 'HIO" Samuel yelled at the top of his lungs. The whole room came to a standstill. April looked on in quiet amusement. Samuel crossed his arms, and stares at the twins until they both sat back down on the ground, mumbling sorrys.

"How you did that is beyond me." April said laughing, giving him a kiss on his cheek. "Mama needs to go sit down for like 10 hours now." Sighing, April started to finish packing the twins bags.

"You tired because of babies mama?" Samuel asked, handing his mother the items his dad had laid down on the bed.

"Yes baby. These three are making quite a racket in here." April said, rubbing her stomach.

Samuel always thought it was amazing how his mom could feel the babies inside her belly. It was also really confusing for him; just as confusing as finding out how babies were made (his parents had been so weird when he'd asked them that). Samuel also found it amazing how three babies could fit in her tummy. He was certain that the doctor mama took him to show him the babies in her belly had got it wrong. As far as he was concerned, only 2 babies could fit in there at most.

Samuel remembered how the news that his mama was going to have 3 more babies had been such a crazy surprise. Mama used to joke after the twins were born that there will be no more babies because Daddy was going to get the snip. Samuel wasn't too sure what was being snipped, but it stopped mama having more babies. Or that's what they thought.

Samuel remembered the day he found out about it crystal clear. He'd had a bad dream and gone to his parent's room. The door had been slightly opened and he heard lots of yelling inside. His parents never yelled. They argued, but not this loud and never this angry. His mom had been yelling at his dad for not getting the operation when she had asked him to. She was saying, "Jackson! Triplets ! I have no idea how to raise 7 babies". Dad kept telling her they'll be fine, they'll figure it out and that made mama madder. She'd yelled saying this was all dad's fault and dad had yelled back saying that if she didn't want these babies so much she knew what she had to do. Right after that there had been total silence and Samuel had gotten scared until he heard his dad say "I'm sorry, April, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I love you. I'm sorry" but by that time mama was crying really loud. She ran out of the room, not even noticing Samuel was there, and her dad followed her. He'd seen Samuel, picked him up, put him back into bed, and left without another word.

His mom hadn't talked to his father for a week. He'd even had to sleep in Samuel's room for the whole week, which Samuel didn't really mind. It was like a sleepover with his dad. He remembered how his dad has brought his mom flowers and jewelry every day for a week. Finally, when they came back home from church on Sunday, mama had cooked them lunch and made all of dad's favourite foods and she had sent Samuel and Harriet upstairs to their rooms to have lunch (which was something he'd always wanted to do which had never been allowed. Samuel had been thrilled). He'd snuck out though when Harriet was too busy watching her cartoons to notice him gone and went downstairs. He saw his mama and daddy giving lots of kisses. Samuel always thought that was super icky but it made his mom giggle real loud and so he was fine with it this time, because she'd been crying the whole week. He remembered how his mother had said, "I'm sorry I overreacted, Jackson, I love you." to which his father replied with "I am so sorry I said that. I love you too. And my babies. We are going to be fine." And then he gave mommy more kisses.

Dad went back to their room that night and both his parents had come to tuck him in and explain to him about what he'd seen last week. They'd told him that mommy was just scared because she wanted to love all her babies right and that they love each other so much always no matter how loud they yelled. Samuel had been relieved to hear that. He knew his parents loved each other very much. As a rule in their family, mama and daddy always gave each other and the kids kisses and said "I love you" before bed and every morning before school. So he knew he was very much loved by parents who loved each other very much. But this time, this fight, had been different. And even at 5 years old he knew something was very wrong. So he was happy. Happy to know that all worked out okay. Although he isn't quite sure just yet how happy he is to have 6 other siblings. 3 others were more than enough. SIX others … He wasn't quite sure how he felt about that yet.

"All done. Okay guys, come on. Hop on in guys." April said, rolling out the custom made go-cart. It even had a cool seat for Samuel to sit on attached to the back, near the handle. But he was 5 now. He was determined to walk all the way this time. Just like his parents. The twins got in and April strapped them up and placed their carry-ons in the compartment.

"Sitting or walking, Sammy?" She asked Samuel.

"Walking, mama." He said, while taking her hand, and walking out of the room with her.

April went to her and Jackson's room, packed and double checked everything, before taking Samuel's hand and walking into the living room.

Jackson and Harriet were sitting on the couch eating ice pops when they walked in. Samuel always thought it was so unfair that Harriet got things like ice pops and toys because she was been bad. That made no sense to him. But only daddy did that. Mama always shouts at daddy whenever he lets Harriet off by giving her candy and toys. But today mama just looked at them, sighed and shrugged it off. He assumed that she was too tired to yell at anyone anymore today.

"Aright guys. We're ready." April said, walking towards the couch.

"Well apparently Harriet doesn't want to go to Ohio today, mama. She wants to stay here all by herself." Jackson said, pulling April on to his lap.

Samuel saw daddy whisper something into mama's ears. Whatever it had been made mama upset and she looked at Harriet, with a really sad look on her face.

"Aw, darling." Mama said. Samuel saw tears in her eyes. He was mad. Harriet had made his mom upset again.

April got up and sat next to Harriet on the couch. "Baby do you not want me to go to Ohio because you don't want Aunt Kimmy to make me cry?" She said, pulling her on to her lap.

Samuel was not expecting that. He thought that maybe he didn't give his sister enough credit sometimes. She was annoying and all, but she was a nice person. They fought a lot, but he knew she loved him lots and if he was been honest he loved her lots too (even when she was so unbelievably annoying) And he knew that just like him, his sister loved his mama so much, even if she gave her a hard time.

Harriet nodded, as Samuel made his way to the couch. His dad picked him up and put him on his lap and kissed the top of his head.

"I hate Aunt Kimmy mama. She a big meany. I hate her." Samuel said. His sister looked up in appreciation. Samuel looked at her, assuring her his support on this subject.

"Hey now. Nobody hates anybody." April said.

"Well …. Except for Kimmy." Jackson mumbled, earning "the look" Samuel knew daddy was scared of.

"You two are too adorable for caring about me so much. But mama can handle her. Sure, she gets to me sometimes, but … Haters gonna hate, right guys ?" April said, laughing at her own reference. "The point is you can't let her ruin all your fun. I'll fight her off. You two just worry about having an awesome time okay?"

"You ask for help, mama ?" Samuel asked. He saw his sister nod along. He knew that if Aunt Kimmy was mean again, he had someone on his side in case mama decided she needed help fighting her off. He looked at his sister and smiled. He was really starting to like her more and more.

"Yes I will babies. I promise. Thank you." April said, giving each of them a kiss.

"Don't worry guys. One bad word from her to mama and we're a flying back to Seattle. Next flight out." Jackson said, giving April a kiss on the cheek.

"And we fly home if Aunt Libby a big meany to daddy, mama ?" Harriet asked April, staring at Samuel, asking for his support. Samuel nodded in agreement. Neither of his aunts were allowed to be mean to his parents. He was more than willing to sacrifice his holiday with his cousins for his parents. They could just all go to Disneyland instead.

"Nah. Daddy can handle it." Jackson said, looking at the floor.

"Daddy shouldn't have to." April replied, taking his hand in hers, "If Aunt Libby is a meany to daddy, what do we do ?"

"Fly outta 'hio" Samuel said, enthusiastically.

"YES YES YES YES YES" Harriet said, nodding her head vigorously.

"Okay then." April said, laughing. "Now that everything is sorted, can we please go so that we don't miss our flight ?"

Samuel quickly jumped off his dad's lap. Now that he knew there was nothing to worry about with Aunt Kimmy and mama, he again let himself get excited for Ohio. He really couldn't wait to see his cousin Lilly and at night, there was going to be fireworks which he knew was going to be super amazing. He watched his mama and dad get everything sorted out one last time.

They left the apartment, made their way downstairs and got into the car.

"Ready guy?" Jackson asked, giving April a peck on her lips.

"YES!" Samuel said, with his sister, in unison. "Jinx!" They both yelled together. He laughed at that. His sister could be crazy sometimes, but she was alright most of the other times. He decided that when it came to his family, no matter how much they drove each other crazy, they always needed each other and had each other's back and loved each other very much. So maybe, he finally decided, new babies weren't going to all that bad.

* * *

 **THANK YOU FOR READING!**

I am truly sorry if it wasn't all that great. I really did try. In the end I thought, this was fluff, and even poorly written fluff is still fluff.


	14. Chapter 14

_Hi everyone, this is a small drabble inspired by this prompt post/151667685713/i-work-at-a-flower-shop-and-youre-a-tattoo-artist_

 _Hope you enjoy!_

 _Disclaimer: The characters are property of Shonda Rhimes and Grey's Anatomy_

* * *

 **Sunflower Tattoo**

He does this every other day. Walk into their store, right after he closes his, sits on a stool right across the counter, where she sits day in and day out, faking smiles, forcing small talk and curating bouquets of flowers for other people when she's never gotten one herself. Yet, she loves her job. It's her own shop, and she has a set of loyal clientele and makes a good profit, especially considering the fact that she only opened up this store about 4 months ago. Also, it doesn't hurt that he works right across her.

He owns a tattoo parlor, one of those old school ones, that hosts a niche selection of clients who are willing to pay a ridiculous amount of money to get their bodies inked. She grew up in a very traditional household, Christian and conservative, tattoos were heavily discouraged. It also doesn't help that she's always been a little afraid of needles. But there have been times, when she's looked across the street, and seen him bent over a person's body, heavily concentrating on his art, that she's seriously considered getting one. Regardless, she gets her best view of him across her own shop.

It started about a month ago, when he'd walked into the store, and she'd been a little enchanted by him. His face, his eyes, his lips, and even the gorgeous sleeve tattoos that he had. He was a textbook version of the kind of boy April's parents always warned her against. The one her hormonal infused teenage dreams couldn't get rid of. And his smile. Oh god, his smile. She hadn't really heard what she found herself agreeing to, but his voice was low and sharp, and she figured he could convince her to help him bury a dead body, no questions asked.

They hadn't spoken much after that, except for the hellos, thank yous, you're welcomes and goodbyes. There's no small talk, and she appreciates it in a way. But she wants to talk to him, she wants to get to know him. She's just spent the last few weeks working up the courage to do it. He comes in here, sits and sketches flowers for a good hour and then leaves.

"Have a good day." She smiles at the man in front of her who just ordered a batch of flowers, for his wife, Megan. He's a frequent client, and she finds it endearing that he buys her flowers almost every week. Lucky girl.

The bell chimes, as the door closes behind him, and April turns around to clear up her workspace. It's just the two of them. She'd sent off her two other employees early today, considering how it had been a slow day.

"He's cheating on his wife."

April looked up all of a sudden, a little confused as to whom the voice belonged to and realized he was speaking. Jackson. She'd caught that much. He was still sketching, his hand moving effortlessly across the paper, but she was pretty sure he'd spoken up.

"What?"

"He's cheating on her." He repeats, and finally looks up.

"Jacob?"

"Yep."

Her eyes widen and she wonders how on earth he knows that. It's ridiculous. Jacob seems like a wonderful man.

"How do you know that?" She asks, a little curious and also a little giddy, because he was talking to her.

"Well, for starters, he says he's been married for 15 years right?" He asks her, tapping his pencil on his book. She nods.

"Well, no man who's been married to someone for that long still buys his wife flowers every single week, unless he has something to feel guilty about or apologize for. It's sweet, romantic, at first. But overtime, the novelty wears off, and she doesn't expect it. You say I love you very differently when you're married for that long."

"Like how?" She asks, a little too curious.

"Well, you do the dishes without them asking you to or you put the kids to bed while the other person takes a bath. Flowers become insignificant next to those."

She smiles at him, because he's right. All that sounds much more considerate than flowers. Even she can admit that.

"That's the only reason?" She perks an eyebrow, and shoots her that half grin she's starting to get addicted to seeing.

"Well, there's also the fact that he buys 3 bouquets every week. The same one twice, white and red roses, and the other one is purple tulips. Surely, one woman likes either/or, not both. If that was the case, he'd buy three different kinds of bouquets." He closes his sketch pad, and stands up.

She leans against the counter, brows furrowed, "So the odd one out is for the mistress?"

"Bingo. The mistress whom he calls, sweetheart. He addresses the other two to, Megan or my beautiful wife. The third is always sweetheart. He never gives a name for that bouquet. And I'm willing to bet that's because it's not Megan. Probably Carol."

She giggles at that, but he's starting to make more sense now and it's making her realize how naive she could be sometimes. She'd definitely not be giving Jacob anymore discounts in the future.

"What an asshole."

"I know right?"

They laugh, and for the first time, the air lightens up, and she finds that she likes him a whole lot better.

"You're very observant." She comments, as he leans forward against the counter, and she catches a glimpse of a sketch poking out of his book.

He shrugs, "I also have a photographic memory. That helps."

She's impressed.

"Like, for example, I know that your favorite flowers are sunflowers because you love that they turn to the direction of the sun and you also love them because not many people do. You hate roses, they're too clichèd. Nothing special. Merely a product of mass commercializations thanks to Valentine's Day. You love when people come here to buy flowers for their friends and family, because you think people shouldn't just buy flowers for their romantic partners. You hate Debbie. She takes so long in the store asking you so many questions but always buys the same bouquet and you love who buys flowers everyday to keep in his dead wife's grave and you don't mind even a little bit that he only remembers to pay you thrice in one week. You've never gotten flowers, but you've always wanted to. It's the way you longingly stare at every bouquet. Which is a shame though, because who wouldn't want to buy you flowers?"

He stops at smirks at her once more, and she stands there looking at him in complete and utter shock. She's in awe, but also a little embarrassed, particularly at the last line. Although a part of her is a little warm and fuzzy that he thinks someone ought I have bought her flowers.

"Wow."

"I'm like The Mentalist."

"But way better looking."

She says this, and it takes her a minute to realize what she's done. But she's sees his eyes fall to hers, and a grin spread across his face, and she blushes like the red roses she hates.

"I'm glad you think so."

He nods at her, and turns to leave. She stops him before he gets to the door, because all this reminds her of a question that remains unsolved, "Then why do you need to come to the shop everyday to sketch the flowers? Can't you recall them from memory?"

"Oh, I can."

She waits, hoping he'd elaborate because he hadn't exactly answered her question yet.

He takes a minute. Turns away, and holds the door open, and she figures that's all she'll get on that, when he speaks up, "The flower isn't the only beautiful thing worth looking at."

And with that he leaves, leaving her behind to contemplate how the conversation she'd had with him had ended up being a million times better than the ones she'd been having in her head. She was flustered, and when the next customer came in, her last for the day, she had to give in a little extra to keep herself from getting dazed. He was a smooth talker, she thought, smart, funny, talented and he had a way with words. She'd love to get flowers from him.

xxx

April, walks in the next day, half an hour late, thanks to some early morning traffic, and she walks in apologizing profusely to Samantha, a gardener she'd hired.

"No problem. We only had one customer in. And the delivery wasn't too hard considering how it was really really close by." Samantha grinned wide, and pointed to the beautiful bouquet of sunflowers, perched on her counter.

"Then why are they still here?"

"Because they just got delivered to the customer." She says, handing April the bouquet, and she takes a second, standing there, holding the flowers in her hands, and blinking. Once. Twice. Thrice.

"What?"

"Enjoy." She winks at her, and walks off towards the employee room.

April stands there confused, and instinctively looks out the window across the street, and faintly blushes when Jackson looks up at her at the same time and waves. She waves back and she can't tell if she's seeing it in her head, because of the distance, but she could swear he was wearing a smirk.

She sets the flowers down, running her fingers across the petals, before she notices a small card attached to it. She opens it up, a little afraid because this is the first time she's getting flowers and she wants it to be special.

To April,

There's a surprise inside the right hand side drawer. Enjoy!

\- Jackson

She quickly puts the card down her heart racing and she gets a quick glance across the street to find Jackson staring intently back at her. She blushes once more, and turns her attention to the drawer, pulling out a piece of paper. She gasps as she realizes that he's spent the last week sketching something other than the flowers. Her. It's a lifelike drawing of her, behind the counter, smiling, surrounded by a bunch of flowers, tapes, ribbons and whatnot. She runs her hands over the grainy dried paint, and takes a moment to realize this is actually happening.

She turns the paper around and sees a sunflower in the back, tiny, beautiful, bright yellow. Next to it are the words, 'You should get this'.

She stares at it for a minute, "Samantha, can you take care of the counter for a second, I'll be right back."

She walks right out, and into his store, all the while looking at him look at her, and happy that the confusion is now on his part.

She walks in, the place buzzing, literally. She feels a little out of place, in her yellow sundress, and bandanna wrapped hair, but she sees him walking towards her and it doesn't feel so bad anymore.

"So?" He asks, but she knows he already knows why she's here.

She holds up her wrist, points to the area of skin to the right side.

"Here."

His smile return, wide boyish grin, and she finds herself melting again.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

He turns back to get his sketching paper, and she's a little unsure of what to feel about how sure she is about this. He's strange. Not him, per se. This pull. She doesn't need to question it just yet.

"Oh there's this special offer that we have. Free tattoo on one condition"

"What's the condition?"

"You have to go on a date with me." He shrugs, and leans back and waits for her reply.

She opens her mouth, closes it, and realizes she must look ridiculous.

"That's a pretty good deal."

"It is."

She pretends to think for a while, "I'll take it."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

_This story was never gonna get published until japril12 and demitruli read it and liked it and thought I should publish it. Thank you, you two!_

 _If you've watched The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, the inspiration will be obvious. If not, just watch Jesse's scenes in it on YouTube, you will not regret it ;)_

 _Disclaimer: The characters are property of Shonda Rhimes and Grey's Anatomy_

* * *

 **Lighter Strokes**

"You should take an elective."

She turns to her roommate, who's sitting on her bed, legs drawn under her, flipping through an old edition of Vogue. She's a short, pixie haired girl, who may come across as tiny and non threatening, however was anything but. April didn't mind at all. Reed was lovely to her, and she warded off any unwanted male attention from April with one glance towards the frat boys.

"I'm a med student, I don't need an elective. I already have enough and more work. You just want me to take an art class with you." April plops herself down next to her friend, and falls back on the bed, her feet dangling in front of her.

"True," Reed nods, "But I also think you'll really enjoy it. It'll be different, refreshing."

April sits up a little, leaning back on her forearms, "You just want to brownie points with ."

"Nadeen," Reed, corrects her, "We're on a first name basis."

"He's your teacher!" April exclaims.

"He's my very attractive, really sexy, painter teacher, yes," Reed sighs, a wistful look in her eyes, "Oh come on! This is college, not high school. I'm allowed."

"It's still weird." April says, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever," Reed replies, turning her body to face her friend, "If I bring you in, it'll make me look good. Like in recruiting people for his class."

April groans at her plan, knowing full well that once Reed make s up her mind on something, she wasn't letting it go.

"I'm not getting out of this one, am I?

"Nope! I already signed you up." She smirks, and quickly jumps away from April's vicinity when the red head throws a magazine toward her.

"Gotta go, bye, love you." Reed sprints out of the door, leaving behind a slightly frustrated April.

Her classes have been tough, and she's always been a massive nerd, but even she's willing to admit medical school wasn't easy in the slightest. Top it all off, she already misses her best friend Amy, and even her ex boyfriend, Bright. They've begun to get on better terms since their break up, and she really wishes they were here. Maybe, this art class will be good for her. She's always loved to paint, and she'll probably drop it after about two classes. She only intends to stay long enough to appease Reed.

She walks with Reed to class the next day, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little excited. It would be a great break from all the endless array of strange information about the human body. She needs a break, and Reed was right, this just might be the perfect way.

She walks into the classroom, white walls, covered here and there with paintings, and sketches. In the middle there was a small, round podium, surrounded by easels placed next to one another. She took a seat on one next to Reed's and places her bag on the floor.

"Morning, class, settle down," begins, walking to the front of the class, motioning everyone to take their seats, "So, as I promised last week, we'll be starting figure art. This is a very difficult skill, and only a few of you will be able to perfect it. Nevertheless, I'd like to see you all try. Draw as much as you can of the nude model in today's class. Don't rush it. This will be your lesson for the rest of the month."

April's eyes widen, and she takes a minute to understand if she's heard him clearly. She whips her neck in Reed's direction, and she sees her enraptured with their teacher.

"Reed! Reed!" She hisses, and finally the her friend glances her way, a little pissed off from being distracted.

"What?!"

"What does he mean, nude drawings?!"

"Oh, I think it slipped my mind. This month we're drawing naked portraits?"

"Of who?!" April is more than a little furious that this, very intentionally, slipped her friend's mind.

"I don't know, this model Nadeen is bringing in. He's a student from another faculty, I think. I mean, Nadeen should've just done the job himself, I certainly wouldn't be compla-"

"REED!" She says, a little louder than she expects, which earns her a narrowed eyed look from her professor, who clearly wasn't a fan of being interrupted.

"Shut up, I'm concentrating." Reed says, waving her off with her hands.

"Reed, the model is going to be naked! I'm going to see a naked model! Reed…. Reed!" April looks around the room for a second, mildly contemplating whether or not to make a run for it.

"Oh…. wait, is this the first guy you're going to-"

"Yes!"

"Oh," Reed actually manages to look genuinely abashed, "You're going to kill me aren't you?"

"The moment this is over."

clasp, getting their attention, and the bickering is put to an end, "So, I'm going to bring in our model. Jackson, come in."

For a second April forgets that she's about to see this man stark naked. He is beautiful. That's the only word she can think of. Handsome doesn't do him justice. She didn't think people that looked like him were real. But there he was, in all his dark skinned, perfectly crafted cheekbone, mess of thick black curl, glory. It takes her a second to remind to herself to tear her eyes off of him, and blush deeply when she realsies he's seen her gawking.

"I wish he was the first guy I saw naked." Reed whispers next to her, and she feels the compulsive need to smack her.

He gets up in the podium, and April takes a second to wonder how he's so perfectly calm considering he's about to strip naked in front of a group of total strangers. Probably helps to look like that, she guesses.

He steps up, and she realises how incredibly tall he is. She glances up, and notices how his eyes have focused on her, almost permanently. He's not breaking eye contact, and when her eyes focus on his, he lightly smirks at her.

She coughs quietly, and quickly looks away, forcing her eyes on the blank canvas. The strategy lasts for a whole of 5 seconds, as she steals a quick glance, trying to be as discreet as possible towards him. He's removing his shirt, and she realizes that when she thought he was perfect before, he's even more perfect now.

Her eyes dart over his long, chiseled torso. Her eyes roam down his body, and her eyes stop at the trail of thin hair leading down to…..

Her eyes avert from his pants, that he's in the process of tugging down. She has nowhere to look, so she ends up glancing at his face once more, and sees him once more smirking at her. He looks cocky, but there's some teasing to his cockiness, as opposed to vanity. She has a feeling it's quite obvious that she's slightly overwhelmed by him.

He takes his pants into his hands and tosses them gently away from the podium, and it lands on the floor. Around her she can hear the whole class come to life, pencils scratching lead against paper, rustling of sheets, while she stops and stares at the blank canvas, her pencil idling on the easel.

"Oh my sweet-"

Reed doesn't finish her sentence, but lets it hang in the air. April hasn't seen many naked men in her life, okay, so she hasn't any naked men in her life that weren't pictures or drawings for her coursework. Yet, she was pretty certain that Jackson was a little exceptional…. in more ways than one.

It…. was perfect. It was also very hard not to stare fixatedly at…. it. It was quite… the proportion. Let's just say, it would take a a few more classes to draw…. fully, April thought.

She gulps, nervously picking up the pencil, and then instantly drops it. She smiles apologetically at the class of frowning students who act as if she had made a massive commotion, and steadies her hand on the easel once more. She quietly clears her throat, and begins working, fervently focusing on the upper half of the body. Although, she'd be lying if she'd said that she didn't take the occasional glance down below. It was horrible of her, really. But more than the sexualisation of it, it was the utter curiosity. She was a 21 years old virgin, who lived in a house where the only reason sex came up was in a discussion about abstinence. She was curious, that's all.

"Lighter strokes, . You're very tense. You need to relax you arm." says, suddenly appearing by her side.

She smiles, and relaxes her grip, noticing how the paper is so indented that it's almost tearing at certain points.

"Also, I want a full body sketch, Miss Kepner. Not just the torso." He tells her, and she blushes while she nods.

She steals a quick look at Jackson, and notices that although he's not moved his head, there's a light grin playing on his face. He heard.

After what seems like a lifetime, finally lets up the class.

"Thank you, Jackson. Same time next week."

Jackson nods, rezipping his pants, and he's back to staring at her once again.

She looks down at her bag, intently concentrating on packing.

She hears light chuckling near her, and when she finally manages to look up again, she's faced with his retreating figure.

She quickly turns her body to face her friend, "Reed, I swear-"

" , can I speak with you?" asks, the moment Reed opens her mouth to defend herself.

"Oops, look at that, have to run. Bye!" She's practically hurtles towards .

"Wha-" She throws the dirtiest look possible in Reed's direction, and walks out.

She has a biochemistry class to get to, and she needs to concentrate on that now. Her experience in this class had been… interesting, to say the least.

She walks into a crowded lecture hall, taking a seat somewhere in the middle rows. She takes out her books, and places them in the table, when she feels someone standing next to her.

"Is this seat taken?"

She takes a second to place the voice, she's heard only a few minutes ago, agreeing to return to 's class next week.

She takes a deep breath and turns around to face Jackson, standing infront of her, his bag slung lazily across his shoulder. He's smiling, but there's a glint in his eyes that reminds her that she's a little more acquainted with him than one would normally be with a stranger.

"Um, sure. Sure you can." She finds her words, finally.

He was a student, she remembered that. But she didn't really peg him for being in her class, doing her her degree. Exactly what she needed.

"So, you know my name… among other things," He voice takes a playful tone, "But I don't know yours. I have a feeling you wouldn't want me to call you ."

She smiles, and faces him, and takes a moment to realize that up close, he's even more beautiful.

"Um, Ap-April."

"Okay, Ap-April. What exactly are you doing at an art elective?"

"My roommate wanted to…. um…. she thought it would be nice to-"

"She wanted to hit on Nadeen?"

He laughs, and she looks at him a little shocked, before joining in, "How did you know?"

"Because he's my friend and I know how he works," Jackson, rolls his eyes, "He's a good guy, but tell Reed not to get too involved."

"I'll keep that in mind," She smiles at his thoughtfulness, "Is that why you… you, um-"

"Stand in front a group of people completely naked for about an hour?"

Her eyes widen at his forwardness, and she goes on to stutter out a response, but is slightly overwhelmed and she feels her cheeks burning up. She puts her hands on her face, willing herself to calm down. This was so embarrassing.

"You are so cute." Jackson comments, and that does nothing to help her calm down. He called her cute. She never got called cute. Least of all by someone like him.

"Um, I don't know how to respond to that." She admits.

"You don't have to," He brings his thumb up to her face, and runs it across her still red cheek, "This is enough of a response."

She wants to respond, but is cut off by their lecturer walking in. She spends the entire lesson trying her hardest to concentrate, but if she was being honest, that has become almost impossible. Him, sitting next to her, looking like that, being like that, charming, sweet and funny, she was a little distracted, to say the least.

The class ends, and she gets up to walk off, wondering if she'd made this whole thing up in her head.

"Um, Jackson, I was wondering if…." She turns to him, wanting to say something. She hadn't really made friends in college just yet, apart from Reed, and eventhough she would like more than anything for him to be more than her friend, she's trying to be realistic.

"I'd like to take you out on a date? I'd love to."

"Oh."

"I mean, you've already seen me naked, you might as well buy me dinner." He tells her, walking away from her down the steps.

She stands there, flashes of the morning coming back to her.

"Okay." She says, running up to catch up with him.

She tugs on her bag, and unconsciously pulls her skirt down.

"Yeah?" He turns around, towers over her, and she feels things she hadn't felt before.

"Mhmm."

"Maybe that'll help you perfect the lighter strokes." He winks at her.

She takes a minute to understand what he's insinuating.

She gasps, and he laughs out loud, as she bursts into giggles herself.

He's been teasing her a little bit too much the whole day, and they'd only just met. April figured she wouldn't mind giving him a taste of his own medicine.

"Well, I look forward to it." She winks, and walks away from him, but not before she catches the slight shock on his face.

Oh yes, her art elective was definitely interesting.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Please leave a review, if you don't mind :)**


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